Moldovan president at Euronews World says she sees Moldova as part of European Union by 2030

Moldova can join the European Union (EU) by the year 2030. President Maia Sandu has made statements to this effect, who today participated in the Euronews World summit dedicated to EU enlargement. Sandu emphasized that Moldova's accession to the EU ‘’is also in the interest of the European Union, because it cannot allow certain countries to be used by authoritarian regimes against the EU.’’

'By 2030, I see Moldova as part of the European Union,’’ said Maia Sandu.

In an interview for Euronews, Maia Sandu warned that ‘’if there is no real prospect of European integration, Moldova will be used against the EU.’’

The Moldovan president also said that, in the coming months ‘’we need solutions,’’ referring to the need for speeding up the domestic reforms. The European Commission indicated in the latest Enlargement Package that Moldova could conclude accession negotiations by 2028, if the current pace of reforms was maintained, and by the end of this year, the country must meet the conditions to open the last three negotiation clusters.

Maia Sandu also drew attention to Russia's interference in Moldova, which has been ‘’so brutal that most citizens have noticed it.’’ The president explained that Moscow tried to regain its influence not through military force, but by infiltrating loyal individuals into key state institutions, through disinformation, manipulation, and threatening messages.

‘’Russia cannot reach Moldova now, because Ukraine resists, but Russia can claim Moldova's sovereignty, if it places loyal people in positions of power, whom it can control, and later those people do what the Kremlin wants and not what is good for our citizens. This was also an objective of Russia in the previous elections – to gain control over power in Chisinau and use Moldova against Ukraine, but also against Romania and other countries in the region,’’ Maia Sandu noted.

The Moldovan president said that Russia was trying to discredit the authorities, provoke unrest and buy votes, and Moldova is more sensitive to Russian influence, due to the ethnic and linguistic structure of the population. The official language is Romanian, and a significant part of the population speaks Russian.

Despite these challenges, in the parliamentary elections in September, the pro-European Action and Solidarity Party (PAS), led by Maia Sandu, gained a clear victory and a parliamentary majority that strengthens the country's European course.

In the recently published enlargement package, the European Commission considers that Moldova could conclude accession negotiations by the year 2028, provided that it succeeds in accelerating the current pace of reforms.

President Maia Sandu is visiting Brussels, where she participated in the Conference organized by Euronews. The head of state spoke about the importance of EU enlargement and the contribution of this process to strengthening peace and security on the continent.