President of Moldova Maia Sandu initiates a referendum on the countryʼs accession to the European Union. They want to hold it in the fall of 2024, Sandu said in a speech on the occasion of the third anniversary of her presidency.
The President of Moldova reminded that the leaders of the European Union recently approved the decision to start negotiations on Moldovaʼs accession to the EU — "something that seemed impossible three years ago."
"We still have a lot to do. And the most important thing is to ensure peace and a better future for all families and children of Moldova. We have a guarantee of such a future only as a member state of the European Union," Sandu emphasized.
She also asked the citizens of Moldova to support her candidacy in the 2024 elections in order to "complete the mission of European integration."
When can a state become a member of the EU?
This will happen only after Moldova fulfills all requirements and fully implements all European standards.
There are various examples in the history of EU enlargement. Finland applied in 1992, and already in 1995 it became a member of the European Union. Poland applied in 1994 and joined the EU 10 years later. The last country to join the European Union is Croatia. It applied in 2003 and became a new member of the EU in 2013.
There are also countries that still remain candidates for admission. These are four Balkan countries: Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. Turkey has the same status. But in all these countries the process is stalled. Turkey does not meet the requirements of the EU at all and shows no desire to join it. In Serbia, the majority of the population does not want to join the European Union, and the country itself has close ties with Russia. Albania has not even started accession negotiations, and in Montenegro, with the change of government, the foreign policy orientation is also changing — sometimes towards the EU, then towards Serbia. North Macedonia is doing the most to join the European Union, but its progress is being blocked by its neighbors. First Greece demanded to change the name — and the Macedonians did it, now Bulgaria demands from North Macedonia to recognize that its people and language have Bulgarian roots and come from Bulgaria.