Moldova could pull ahead of Ukraine in EU accession bid – Politico

The EU is considering the possibility of granting Moldova significant progress in its bid to join the 27-member bloc.

Under the scenario being studied by EU officials, European countries would vote to open the first negotiating cluster for Moldova — a key legal step toward membership — at the beginning of next month after the meeting of EU ministers, according to three diplomats and an EU official.

Such a move would give a strong electoral boost to President Maia Sandu, whose party is running an election campaign on a pro-European platform and faces determined efforts by Russia aimed at swaying votes in Moscow’s favor.

Siegfried Muresan, a conservative MEP who chairs the EU-Moldova Association Committee in the European Parliament, stressed that a way must be found to open the first cluster.

“It would send a signal to Russia. It would take away the argument for the narrative of the Russians, which is to say that there is no progress on the path to EU membership,” he said.

However, allowing Moldova to move forward while leaving Ukraine waiting could anger Kyiv, whose EU membership bid has moved in lockstep with Moldova’s, as both countries received the initial green light from the European Council in 2023.

“There is a danger here of sending the wrong signal to Ukrainians,” a Ukrainian diplomat said.

According to him, at a time when the future of peace is being discussed in Alaska, it is worth keeping the prospect of EU membership as strong as possible.

Both Moldova and Ukraine have carried out far-reaching reforms to join the EU, completing all the necessary steps to open the first negotiating cluster, according to a European Commission spokesperson.

EU accession negotiations

On May 21, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the country was ready to start negotiations on joining the EU. The only obstacle to the start of this process remains Hungary’s veto.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has repeatedly claimed that Ukraine’s accession to the EU would supposedly “destroy Hungary” and drag the bloc into a war with Russia.

According to him, most Hungarians are against Ukraine’s EU membership.

Moldova, however, does not face similar problems. At the end of June, Romanian President Nicușor Dan stated that negotiations on Moldova’s accession to the EU were to begin on July 4, but later admitted that this information was incorrect.

At the beginning of the month, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha emphasized that Ukraine and Moldova should start accession negotiations with the EU together.