Marcel Spatari, Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on European Integration, said in an interview with IPN that the Republic of Moldova remains far from eligibility for European Union accession, but the pace of progress depends on internal preparedness and the implementation of measures included in the National Accession Program.
He explained that EU member states base accession decisions not only on political factors but also on technical criteria. In this context, he stressed that the Republic of Moldova follows the same path as all other candidate countries, without exceptions or fast track procedures.
Asked whether obstacles in Ukraine’s accession process, including Hungary’s position, could indirectly affect Moldova’s European path, Marcel Spatari said that Budapest’s stance mainly targets Ukraine and affects the opening of political negotiations with Kyiv.
“In this context, the Republic of Moldova supports the continuation of negotiations and Ukraine’s progress. We recognize that this window of opportunity exists because of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and the current geopolitical context,” the MP said.
At the same time, Marcel Spatari emphasized the need for institutions to maintain a steady working pace in harmonizing national legislation with EU law and for EU member states to send clear political messages of support.
“In my view, these intermediate targets and clear objectives, provided by the European Commission on behalf of the 27 member states across three chapters, allow us to move forward in the negotiation process. When political negotiations open across all chapters, we will be ready to close them as quickly as possible,” Marcel Spatari added.