Moldova's President Maia Sandu stressed on September 29 that European Union accession is a “meritocratic” process, adding that the country will seek to advance as quickly as possible on the path to membership. 

The pro-EU Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS), founded by Sandu, won the majority of votes in the parliamentary election on September 28 and will hold 55 of the total 101 seats in parliament. The PAS and Sandu aim to complete the accession chapters by 2028, before the next general election.

Asked whether Moldova would ask to separate its accession process from Ukraine, which was invited to begin procedures simultaneously, Sandu avoided a direct answer.

“Accession to the European Union is a meritocratic process. This is written in the documents of the European Union. Both countries, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, have met all the conditions to move to the next stage and we expect the European institutions and member states to find a solution,” Sandu stated, according to Unimedia.info.

The ambassadors of the 27 countries of the European Union gave their agreement to open accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova on June 15, 2024. The two countries received approval to begin accession negotiations at an EU summit in December 2023. 

Sandu also said the authorities in Chișinău are prepared to leave the separatist pro-Russian Transnistria region behind under a two-step accession process if necessary.

“We want to join the EU in one step with the reunited country, but in the event that we do not have this possibility – because you know that the Russian Federation maintains its troops illegally on the territory of the Republic of Moldova, and this is the biggest obstacle to the reunification of the country – for this situation there is also a second scenario, which means joining the EU in two steps,” the president of Moldova declared.