CHISINAU, March 22 Deputy Prime Minister of Moldova for European Integration Kristina Gerasimova stated that the Transnistrian conflict is not an obstacle to European integration, but it is necessary to discuss a solution that will allow the country to join the EU together with Pridnestrovie by 2030.
Earlier, President of Moldova Maia Sandu said that she does not exclude the possible integration into the EU of only the right bank of the country, without Transnistria. In her opinion, the conflict can be resolved after joining the organization.
«The Transnistrian conflict is not an obstacle to our accession to the EU — this is not me who is saying this, this is what the most senior officials in Brussels are saying. We should discuss it internally in the near future countries, how to make sure that residents of the left bank of the Dniester can also benefit from the accelerated process that Moldova is going through, and how to ensure that in 2030 we are ready to join the EU as a single country,” Gerasimova said at a briefing.
The EU summit on December 14 decided to launch negotiations on future membership in 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 recognized that such a decision was largely symbolic in order to support Kyiv and Chisinau in their confrontation with Moscow.
The status of an EU candidate country, as well as the start of negotiations, do not necessarily mean that the country will join the European Union, these steps Brussels is also not obligated 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 — this happened in 2013, the process took 10 years.