Moldova aims to open all EU negotiation chapters by summer's end, Igor Grosu
The Republic of Moldova must continue the technical preparations for its accession to the European Union, even if political decisions regarding the opening of negotiation chapters are made later. This statement was made by the Speaker of the Parliament, Igor Grosu, a day after Moldova received confirmation about the opening of a new group of negotiation chapters with the EU, specifically focused on "External Relations." According to Grosu, who leads the Action and Solidarity Party (PAS), the authorities aim to open all six negotiation clusters by the end of this summer.
The Republic of Moldova “must” join the EU by 2030, added Igor Grosu, on the show “EU and the European Union” on Moldova 1, the July 15 edition.
The Speaker of the Parliament said that the Republic of Moldova still has four more negotiation clusters to open and that the authorities will continue discussions with European partners to accelerate this process. According to him, the authorities in Chisinau have chosen to continue technical preparations without waiting exclusively for political decisions on the opening of chapters.
"Our goal is to try to open them all by the end of this summer. We continue to insist and convince our European partners that we deserve to have all six clusters opened. We did not sit and wait for the cluster to be opened. We said that we are going with the technical option. We continue to fulfill the conditionalities and approve laws as if we already had the official political decision to open the clusters", explained the President of the Parliament.
This approach has allowed the Republic of Moldova to advance more quickly in the European integration process, says Grosu, and the strategy has been appreciated by the European Union member states.
"To sit and wait for the decision and do nothing would have meant wasting time. We said we were moving forward, we were making this commitment, and this turned out to be the right decision, the right strategy on our part. This was appreciated by our partners, by all 27 member states of the European Union", declared Igor Grosu.
What the new negotiation chapters entail
Speaking about the opened chapters, Igor Grosu explained that they cover areas such as trade agreements with third countries, export control and the regulation of dual-use products.
According to the official, dual-use products are those that can be used for civilian purposes and in areas related to the military industry, an important topic in the context of the war in Ukraine. Grosu also referred to the Transnistrian region, where enterprises produced components for the military industry during the Soviet period.
"These are products that can be used in the civilian sector or dual-use products. We are talking about this in the context of the war in Ukraine. On the left bank of the Dniester River we have an industry. Even though the territory is not controlled by the constitutional authorities, there are enterprises that previously produced elements for the military industry or dual-use products. We, as a state, must ensure that we verify and control that these products end up in safe hands, in trusted companies," Grosu declared.
The Speaker of the Parliament also said that the EU accession process involves creating mechanisms to verify investments so that they do not come from companies or states subject to international sanctions.
"We must have a mechanism for verifying investments. It should not be about companies under sanctions or investments of dubious origin. There are rules that are already respected in the European Union, and the Republic of Moldova, like all candidate states, must demonstrate that it has laws, institutions and the capacity to respect these rules", Igor Grosu also said.
In the same context, the President of the Parliament stressed that the constitutional status of neutrality of the Republic of Moldova is compatible with the security and defense policy of the European Union. The official rejected the statements according to which the rapprochement with European security structures would violate the country's neutrality, qualifying this message as "a lie".
"It fits together perfectly. I tell you that, within the European Union, there are already four states that have enshrined the principle of neutrality in their Constitutions: Austria, Ireland, Cyprus and Malta. We have four states that are already members of the European Union and that, like the Republic of Moldova, have provided for the status of neutrality in the Supreme Law", Igor Grosu declared.
He criticized the position of some politicians who invoke the neutrality of the Republic of Moldova in the context of its rapprochement with the European Union, but do not address the issue of the Russian military presence on the territory of the country.
"I would urge these colleagues to be more vocal when it comes to removing the Russian army that is illegally on our territory. This is a real danger to our security and neutrality. The state that teaches us how the Republic of Moldova should be and how our neutrality should be defies that neutrality by the presence of its soldiers. There should not be any foreign military on our territory without our will," said Grosu.
Closing negotiation chapters depends on the readiness of the Republic of Moldova
Asked about the possibility of quickly closing the negotiation chapters already opened with the European Union, Igor Grosu said that this depends on the progress made by the authorities in Chisinau.
"Everything depends on us. (...) There is no deadline. Obviously, our main objective is to close all chapters by 2028, so that the country can sign the accession treaty", Grosu declared.
According to him, after a state considers that it has met all the requirements for a certain group of chapters, the European Commission's assessment and the decision of the member states follow.
The Speaker of the Parliament also wanted to point out on Moldova 1 that our country must join the EU by 2030, as this is the Republic of Moldova's chance to "survive as a state".
We remind you that the Republic of Moldova has taken a new step in the process of accession to the European Union, after, on July 14, a new group of negotiation chapters was officially opened, covering foreign policy, security, defense and the common commercial policy.
Our country submitted its application for accession to the European Union in 2022, together with Ukraine, shortly after the start of the large-scale Russian invasion.
In the same year, the Republic of Moldova obtained candidate status.
On June 15, the European Union officially opened negotiations on Cluster 1 with our country. The accession process includes 33 chapters, grouped into six clusters.
