Strasbourg – In the first-ever awarding of the new European Order of Merit, there was a touch of EU enlargement in the air. “When people rise against autocracies, reach for our European flag,” said European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, announcing the first 20 laureates during a ceremony held in the Strasbourg plenary session on 19 May. Among them were Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Moldovan President Maia Sandu.
Present at the ceremony in Strasbourg, Moldovan President Sandu thanked the Parliament for the “political support and resolutions through which you have stood by our democracies and our EU accession process.” She dedicated the award to “the people of Moldova – to those who chose Europe at the ballot box, to those who defended that choice when it was not easy, and to those who are doing the hard work of reforms because they believe in a better future.”
President Sandu recalled that “we do all this living next door to Russia’s brutal war [in Ukraine, ed.], while Kremlin missiles and drones violate our airspace, pollute our waters and damage our energy infrastructure.” However, “Moldovans do not yield, and that is the merit,” she stressed, making clear her appeal to the European Union: “Reward this merit – let Moldova move forward on its European journey.” This is how President Sandu linked the European Order of Merit to the EU accession process.
Having waited for almost two and a half years since the European Council gave the green light to open accession negotiations, due to Hungary’s veto against Ukraine – which is linked to the Moldovan dossier – Chișinău wants to move forward with the formal opening of accession negotiations “on all clusters,” President Sandu stated. With the expected change of attitude in Budapest following the installation of the new Hungarian government, “we do believe the EU institutions and the EU member states will find a solution to open the formal negotiations by the end of June,” she added.
“This will be the same position I will take with me to the European Council in June,” President Metsola pointed out during press remarks before the ceremony, stressing that the European Parliament “has always been very clear: if we have opened our door to enlargement by taking the decision that a country should become a candidate, then the next step is to start negotiations.”
The state of EU relations with Moldova and Ukraine
Just four days after the start of Russia’s war of aggression, on 28 February 2022, Ukraine submitted its application for EU membership, with Moldova following three days later, on 3 March. On 23 June 2022, the European Council endorsed the European Commission’s recommendation to grant Kyiv and 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 with the two countries were held on 25 June 2024 in Luxembourg. As recognised in the 2025 Enlargement Package, the screening process has been successfully concluded with both Kyiv and Chișinău.
With Hungary vetoing the start of Ukraine’s EU negotiations, Moldova’s accession has also been put on hold, as Chișinău’s EU process is tied to Kyiv’s through the so-called “package approach”. While the Commission considers it possible for Moldova to complete accession negotiations by 2027, opening them “by November” this year, Ukraine’s goal is to do the same by the end of 2028, and is now expected to meet the conditions allowing the Council to open “all clusters before the end of the year.”
On 17 March 2026, technical guidance was provided to both Ukraine and Moldova to continue work on EU reforms across all six negotiating clusters, until political conditions allow the formal process to begin – meaning Hungary lifting its veto.
Once Cluster 1 – ‘Fundamentals’ – the first group of five negotiating chapters (out of 33), focusing on economic criteria, the functioning of democratic institutions, and public administration reform – is opened, the other groups of negotiating chapters can follow. The unanimous approval of all 27 EU member states in the Council is now the only step remaining.
What it the European Order of Merit
The European Order of Merit is the first European distinction of its kind granted by EU institutions, and it complements national distinctions and decorations by recognising efforts that strengthen Europe as a whole. It honours the achievements of individuals who have made a significant contribution to European integration or to the promotion and defence of the values enshrined in the Treaties.
The European Order of Merit was launched on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Schuman Declaration (9 May 1950), widely considered the starting point of European unity. The first appointments were made on 10 March 2026, and the first laureates received their awards during a ceremony held during the European Parliament’s plenary session on 19 May.
Only 20 people can be awarded the European Order of Merit each year. The Order consists of three levels of increasing distinction: Member of the Order, Honourable Member of the Order, and Distinguished Member of the Order. Laureates receive a badge, a ribbon bar, and a certificate signed by the President of the European Parliament.
Members and staff of EU institutions, bodies, offices, and agencies are not eligible during their term of office or service. The decision is taken every year by a selection committee appointed for a term of four years and composed of the President of the European Parliament, two Vice-Presidents of the European Parliament, and four eminent European personalities.
The selection committee may revoke an appointment to the Order if a Member of the Order or a laureate is found guilty of a criminal offence by a final court decision, has shown disrespect for the EU’s founding values, or has used the badge or ribbon bar improperly.
These are the laureates of the 2025 European Order of Merit:
- Angela Merkel, Former Federal Chancellor of Germany (Distinguished Member);
- Lech Wałęsa, Leader of Solidarnosc and former President of the Republic of Poland (Distinguished Member);
- Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine (Distinguished Member);
- Valdas Adamkus, Former President of Lithuania (Honourable Member);
- Jerzy Buzek, Former Prime Minister of Poland and former President of the European Parliament (Honourable Member);
- Aníbal Cavaco Silva, Former President and Prime Minister of Portugal (Honourable Member);
- Sauli Niinistö, Former President of Finland and former Speaker of the Parliament of Finland (Honourable Member);
- Pietro Parolin, Cardinale and Secretary of State of the Holy See (Honourable Member);
- Mary Robinson, Former President of Ireland (Honourable Member);
- Maia Sandu, President of the Republic of Moldova (Honourable Member);
- Wolfgang Schüssel, Former Federal Chancellor of Austria (Honourable Member);
- Javier Solana, former EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (Honourable Member);
- Jean Claude Trichet, Former President of the European Central Bank (Honourable Member);
- José Andrés, Chef and founder of the NGO World Central Kitchen (Member);
- Giánnis Antetokoúnmpo, Basketball player (Member);
- Marc Gjidara, Lawyer and scholar (Member);
- Sandra Lejniece, Physician, scientist and academic leader (Member);
- Oleksandra Matviichuk, Human Rights Lawyer (Member);
- Viviane Reding, Former Vice-President of the European Commission, former Member of the Chamber of Deputies of Luxembourg, former Member of the European Parliament (Member);
- Bono, together with The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr, known collectively as U2 (Member).
