Declaration signed in Prague: EU must continue to proactively support Moldova's accession process
The European Union and its Member States must continue to proactively support the process of Moldova's accession to the EU, according to a joint declaration adopted at the Conference of Presidents of Parliaments of the European Union in Prague. The event was attended by the President of the Parliament, Igor Grosu, together with more than 50 other speakers and the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola.
In his speech, Parliament's President Igor Grosu spoke about the current situation in the Republic of Moldova, in the context of the consequences of the war in the Russian Federation on Ukraine, including the energy sector.
"The Republic of Moldova, in addition to multiple crises in recent years, is facing hybrid and direct attempts to destabilise the reform process and jeopardise democratic power. Even so, we have managed to maintain internal security and accelerate reforms with the aim of strengthening the country's overall resilience. Moldova has started on the path towards the EU. We are in the process of approximating EU legislation and practices, implementing the European Commission's recommendations. For 2023, our immediate priority is to obtain a unanimous decision to launch talks on negotiations by the end of 2023," added Parliament Speaker Igor Grosu, according to a statement by the legislature.
The document states support for the European Commission's decisions to grant the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine and Bosnia and Herzegovina the status of candidate countries for EU membership and Georgia the status of potential candidate. In this context, it is noted that, despite the current international situation, the European Union must continue to support the integration processes of these states through a regular and in-depth dialogue, taking into account the progress made in implementing key reforms and meeting conditionality.
In the declaration adopted, the participants in the Conference of Presidents of Parliaments of the European Union also condemn the Russian Federation's war against Ukraine. The document states that this war has shown the importance of the EU's interconnections with other states in the areas of security, stability and prosperity. The adopted declaration also refers to the importance of the inter-parliamentary cooperation network. The Republic of Moldova participates for the first time in the Conference of Presidents of Parliaments of the European Union as a candidate country for EU membership, the legislative statement said.
