Moldova

THE EUROPEAN DREAM: MOLDOVA’S WAY INTO THE EUROPEAN UNION

The war in Ukraine triggered a historic change on the EU's Eastern border and the EU’s calculus about the costs and benefits of admitting new members among its midst. Apart from Ukraine, the most hopeful EU aspirant is the Republic of Moldova. Albeit being a small country with seemingly limited power to affect global politics, Moldova’s accession is of geopolitical importance to the EU. The summit of the European Political Community, held in the Moldovan capital in June 2023, accentuated this and aimed at sending a clear message to Russia: Moldova is part of the European family. Moreover, the European Commission recently issued a strong recommendation to open EU accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova, which was echoed by the European Council during its meeting on December 15. This analysis explores the challenges that Moldova has to face in order to become an official member of the Union and provides possible approaches on how to overcome them.

Get the latest report by Raimar Wagner and Alexandru Gabor.