President of Moldova Maia Sandu called on the political class of the republic to respect the results of the future referendum on the republic’s accession to the EU.
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“The autumn referendum will determine our present and future for decades to come. As soon as the goal of European integration is written into the constitution, the entire political class of the country will be obliged to respect it,” Sandu said at a press conference.
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The head of the republic announced consultations with political parties and civil society on the issue of holding a referendum. Sandu also noted that a website has been launched in support of the referendum on European integration. “The site will debunk myths and fake news about the European Union launched by opponents of joining the EU,” she added.
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On December 24, Sandu announced that she intended to run for a second presidential term; in addition, she put forward an initiative to parliament to organize a referendum so that citizens could express their opinion on the republic’s accession to the European Union. At the end of last year, parliament members voted for changes to the Electoral Code, which suggest that a republican referendum in Moldova could be held on the day of parliamentary and presidential elections. In January, the ruling parliamentary majority voted for new amendments to the code, providing for the postponement of the deadline for setting the election date from 90 to 60 days.
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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 an EU candidate country, 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. 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 “conducting” membership negotiations with the EU since 2005, North Macedonia has been a candidate since 2005, Montenegro since 2010, Serbia since 2012. Croatia was the last country to join the EU in 2013; the process took 10 years.
