Chișinău – The time for post-election celebrations may not yet be over for Moldova’s ruling party, but the focus is already shifting to what comes next. For a country eager to move quickly towards EU accession, the future feels very much like the present.
“Until now, everything depended on the elections. Now, with an absolute majority, our chances of becoming an EU member are real,” says Victor Neculai, Vice-President of the Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) Youth and member of the Government’s Bureau for European Integration, in an interview with The New Union Post at the dawn of a new mandate in full control of the Parliament for the political force bringing Moldova to the threshold of EU membership.
The sweeping majority secured by PAS—with decisive backing from the diaspora—on the promise of EU membership by 2028 is “a very strong sign that we are closer than ever to realising our dream,” Neculai explains. Clearly exhausted after election night and months of relentless work—”including weekends and holidays”—he is nonetheless energised by the prospect of four more years on a path strengthened by the clear mandate from the ballot box.
The challenges ahead
The new PAS-led government will build on the foundations laid over the past four years, when Moldova first applied for EU membership and, after receiving candidate status, made “rapid and significant progress.” One striking example is the bilateral screening process, completed on 23 September, which means the country is now ready to open negotiation chapters. This milestone was reached in just 15 months, “making us the fastest candidate so far,” Neculai recalls with pride.
The next four years will demand deep and transformative reforms to align fully with the EU acquis and prepare the ground for signing the Accession Treaty by 2028. According to Neculai, who serves in the Government’s Bureau for European Integration, “this will require two more years of hard work.” This effort goes beyond the reforms set out in PAS’s political programme, extending across all 33 negotiating chapters—from agriculture, energy and security to digitalisation, and “above all the rule of law,” the first chapter to be opened and the last to be closed.
Reasons for optimism lie in the national programmes “already in place,” which assess—chapter by chapter—the actions required to bring Moldovan legislation into line with the body of EU law “by the end of 2027,” including the associated costs and implementation plans.
But the challenges to this strategic goal—aligning fully with EU law by 2027 and joining the Union by 2028—are considerable. First of all, Neculai explains, “we are seeking to have as few transitional periods as possible, otherwise it will be harder to close chapters” within such a short timeframe. Moreover, the financial burden should not be underestimated, particularly in complex sectors such as agriculture and the environment, “where a great deal of work is still required.” He also warns that resisting Russian interference remains a critical test, even as Moldova draws confidence from the “excellent collective effort at all levels” seen before and during the elections.
Is 2028 a realistic target?
But how realistic is Moldova’s goal to complete the whole EU accession process by 2028? Just recently, the Director-General of DG NEAR, Gert Jan Koopman, anticipated that “we could be looking at completing the work by the end of 2027—perhaps even a little earlier.” Drawing on the experience of the past year and a half, the Commission aims to open all negotiating clusters with Chișinău by the end of the year. This involves two steps: first, completing the technical work by September (done); and second, securing a formal decision from the Council, which requires unanimity among all member states—though this is an institutional practice rather than a legal requirement under the EU Treaties.
The most sensitive issue in Chișinău’s EU accession process lies in its current link to Kyiv—a connection that has already slowed progress for months. Moldova’s EU process is tied to Ukraine’s through the so-called concept of ‘coupling’, a political arrangement decided by the member states in the Council (as was the case for Albania and North Macedonia until September 2024). With Kyiv’s accession talks blocked by Hungary’s veto, this politically motivated blockade has effectively put Chișinău’s accession on hold as well. Although it risks being seen as leaving Ukraine behind, an attempt at ‘decoupling’ cannot be ruled out, as further delays could frustrate Moldovan society.
“This is a very frequent topic of debate, but we are working on our own merits, doing our homework,” Neculai responds cautiously when asked whether the government in Chișinău might consider asking the EU to decouple Moldova’s accession process from Ukraine’s if Hungary continues to block Kyiv’s bid. “It is too early to talk about this and, ultimately, the decision rests with the European Union.”
Meanwhile, European Council President António Costa is pressing EU capitals to shift from unanimity to qualified majority voting for intermediate stages of the process, including the opening of accession talks. “We began the process of EU integration together with Ukraine—and, in many ways, thanks to Ukraine,” Neculai adds. “And we hope to continue the accession path alongside them.”
According to the Commission, once the negotiating chapters are opened, Chișinău’s accession process could move “twice as fast” as for any other candidate country, the Director-General of DG NEAR noted in June. Based on this timeline, the end of 2027 can be seen as a feasible target for concluding negotiations and submitting the new Accession Treaty to both the member states and Moldova itself—the final step required under Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU). An ambitious schedule, which coincides with the pro-EU ruling party’s promise to join the EU by 2028.
The goal of joining the EU by 2028 is closely tied to the next parliamentary elections in the same year. If Moldova is ready by then, any delays—for example, to join alongside Montenegro and Albania, the frontrunner candidates—could prove risky. “Russia will not give up; it will try again and again to destabilise the country,” Neculai warns, noting that “nobody can predict” what the situation will be in four years’ time. Should it prove critical, “we cannot afford to delay our entry into the EU any further.”
The state of EU-Moldova relations
One week after the start of Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, on 3 March 2022, Moldova submitted its request for EU membership. On 23 June 2022, the European Council endorsed the European Commission’s recommendation to grant Chișinău candidate status. At the European Council meeting on 14 December 2023, EU leaders gave the green light to open accession negotiations. Following the Council’s approval of the negotiating frameworks, the first intergovernmental conferences were held on 25 June 2024 in Luxembourg.
With the aim of opening the first EU accession negotiation cluster in 2025, the screening process has been ongoing since autumn 2024. As recognised by the Council, Chișinău continues to make progress on justice reform, the fight against corruption, and the implementation of the action plan on de-oligarchisation. At the same time, administrative and institutional capacities need to be strengthened at all levels, while advancing transformative economic reforms, enhancing sectoral cooperation, and deepening integration into the EU internal market remain major economic challenges.
As anticipated by the European Commission, both Moldova and Ukraine “are ready” for Cluster 1 – Fundamentals to be opened. The first group of five negotiating chapters focuses on economic criteria, the functioning of democratic institutions, and public administration reform. Moreover, two additional screenings have been sent to the Council for both Chișinău and Kiev—on Cluster 2 – ‘Internal Market’ and Cluster 6 – ‘External Relations’. The unanimous approval of all 27 EU member states in the Council is now the only step required.
