Azernews.Az

by Alimat Aliyeva

The Moldovan government is working to complete the technical preparations for EU membership negotiations by the beginning of 2028, with the goal of being fully prepared to join the European Union by 2030.

Moldovan Prime Minister Vasile Tofan made the statement following a meeting of the Moldova–EU Association Council in Brussels on October 5.

According to Moldovan officials, the country aims to complete the accession negotiations by early 2028 and use the following period to finalize the necessary reforms and preparations for EU membership.

The prime minister noted that negotiation clusters 1 and 6 were opened for Moldova this summer. The government now intends to make progress on the remaining clusters and fulfill the necessary interim criteria as quickly as possible.

“We are working to open the remaining clusters by the end of the year and to meet the interim criteria in a timely manner,” Tofan said.

Moldova officially began its EU accession negotiations in 2024, marking a major step forward in its integration process. However, membership requires the country to align its legislation, institutions and economy with EU standards across a wide range of areas.

The accession process is divided into 35 negotiating chapters grouped into six clusters, covering areas such as the rule of law, the internal market, competitiveness, environmental policy, agriculture and regional development.

The timetable set by Chisinau is ambitious. Reaching the 2030 target will depend not only on Moldova’s ability to implement reforms, but also on the pace of negotiations and the approval of all EU member states.

If Moldova manages to maintain its current timetable, the country could become one of the next members of the European Union, alongside other candidate countries pursuing their own accession paths.