Canada is negotiating with Moldova to provide a large loan to financially support the government of the republic, Canadian Ambassador Gavin Buchan said.
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“We are identifying a number of areas in which we will support Moldova. We have a small project to support civil society, we have support for the judicial system, we will provide support in the energy sector, and we are now in the process of negotiating a large loan to financially support the government.” , Buchan said.
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According to him, Moldova is carrying out the right reforms and is on the way to joining the EU.
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“They are taking all the right measures and absolutely deserve our support… And one of the great joys of my mission here is that I have the opportunity to work on concrete things like this,” the ambassador emphasized.
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The EU summit on December 14 decided to launch negotiations on future membership of the European Union with Ukraine and Moldova. In June 2022, the EU granted EU candidate country status to Ukraine and Moldova, setting several strict conditions for the formal start of accession negotiations. The EU has repeatedly admitted that such a decision was largely symbolic in order to support Kyiv and Chisinau in their confrontation with Moscow.
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The status of a candidate country in itself, as well as the start of negotiations, does not necessarily mean that the country will join the European Union; these steps also do not oblige Brussels to anything.
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Obtaining candidate status is only the beginning of a rather long journey towards joining the EU. Turkey has been in candidate status since 1999, and has been negotiating membership with the EU since 2005, North Macedonia since 2005, Montenegro since 2010, and Serbia since 2012. Croatia was the last country to join the EU in 2013; the process took 10 years.
