Moldovans are Europeans – President Sandu’s message which she’ll carry from a Chisinau rally to the European Political Community Summit

“Europe is more than a political slogan, Europe is a way of life” – those were the words used by Republic of Moldova’s President, Maia Sandu, to emphasise her country’s trajectory as she addressed a rally of tens of thousands of people on Sunday, 21 May, in the capital Chisinau but they are also the thoughts that will underpin her hosting of the European Political Community Summit.

Moldova’s enthusiasm for EU membership, which was on display at the Chisinau rally, will be conveyed to the fifty leaders invited to the EPC gathering chaired by President Sandu. 

President said that Moldova’s primary objective was to become a fully-fledged member of the European Union by 2030. During her speech, she described how joining the EU is “our people’s chance to live in peace and prosperity. This dream depends on each one of us.” 

The President went on to set out a vision of the future that awaits Moldova: “The children born today should start their first grade at school as European citizens; the young people enrolled in the medical school should become doctors in a European Union country; the farmers planting walnut orchards today should have their first harvest in a European country and enjoy a large and stable European market for Moldovan projects.”

The Moldovan government has already started preparing for the start of EU accession talks which the President believes should begin no later than early in 2024. Reforms of the justice system are being implemented, alongside a crackdown on corruption and reform of the electoral code to the highest international standards.

During the rally in the Great National Assembly Square, the President also railed against outside forces who had tried to undermine and marginalise Moldova. She insisted that Moldova had chosen the European path because it was the only chance to thrive: “It’s the path that we, the citizens of Moldova have chosen because we no longer want to be on the margins of Europe, we no longer want to be subject to Russian blackmail, poverty and corruption.”

Moldova’s commitment to European values and a European trajectory will be in evidence again on 1 June. President Sandu will be focussing the summit on the topics of peace and security; energy resilience and ways of connecting the continent more closely – the building of a common European home.