Maia Sandu: "European integration - a project to which we can and must all contribute"
The progress in implementing the commitments that the Republic of Moldova has assumed in the context of European integration, as well as the European integration priorities for the year 2023 were discussed on Wednesday, January 11, at the Presidency, by the members of the National Commission for European Integration. The president of the country, Maia Sandu, claims that she asked the heads of responsible institutions to intensify efforts and to urgently implement the commitments assumed. According to the head of state, the European integration of the Republic of Moldova is a project "to which we can and must all contribute".
As stated by the Presidency, of the 35 actions that were to be implemented by the end of 2022, 16 have been implemented and nine are at the final stage. Thus, among the actions carried out is the adoption by the Parliament of the new Electoral Code, which entered into force on January 1st. Likewise, the Government adopted the Regulation on low-value public procurement.
According to the cited source, the final phase includes the extraordinary evaluation of the candidates for the Superior Council of Magistrates and the Superior Council of Prosecutors (pre-vetting); clarifying the powers of the Anti-corruption Prosecutor's Office and the National Anti-corruption Center in terms of combating grand corruption.
Also, according to the presidential institution, the promotion of a package of normative acts to eliminate the influence of the oligarchs from the political, economic and mass media spheres follows. The quoted source states that this is one of the recommendations of the European Commission from June 2022.
President Maia Sandu mentioned that the remaining measures must be completed by the end of March and emphasised that it is necessary for all the institutions responsible to accelerate efforts to implement the Plan of actions.
"We have requested the heads of responsible institutions to intensify efforts and to expedite the implementation of commitments. We have also determined that we need to make further efforts to compensate for the lack of sufficient progress over the last six to seven years on the harmonisation of legislation, this means a greater effort from all institutions in the next four to five months, but it is an effort very, very important", declared the head of state, Maia Sandu, according to a video, made public by the Presidency after the Commission meeting.
The head of state assures that European integration remains the main priority of the Chisinau authorities in 2023. According to Maia Sandu, once achieved, the integration of our country into the EU "will ensure peace, the economic modernization of the country, and the increase in the standard of living of the people here, at home, to the standards of European countries".
"European integration is a project to which we can and must all contribute", concluded President Maia Sandu.
Moldova 1 recalls that in order to start the negotiations for accession to the European Union, the Republic of Moldova must fulfil nine conditions formulated in the opinion of the European Commission and approved by the European Council together with the offer, on June 23, 2022, of the status of a candidate country for accession to the EU. Recently, President Maia Sandu declared that our country "should" become a member of the EU "by the end of the decade".
