Brussels – It was a long-awaited day for Moldova, but the ambition remains intact. Chișinău has been ready for more than a year to open the negotiating cluster on fundamentals and, while celebrating this historic step, is preparing for the other five clusters to be opened “before the end of the summer.”
As Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos anticipated after the opening of Cluster 1 – ‘Fundamentals’ at the second Accession Conference with Moldova on 15 June, this step will make it “even more visible” that Chișinău is “among the best-performing EU candidate countries” and that the “next stage of the EU accession process” has begun. The Commission expects the Council to green-light the opening of all clusters in just a mont months, paving the way for the fulfilment of interim benchmarks, “after which Moldova will start closing chapters,” Commissioner Kos anticipated.
Commissioner Kos stressed that “we formally recognised the reform progress” that Chișinău has made “over the last few months”, while providing a “to-do list” of rule-of-law reforms to “strengthen the foundations for Moldova’s future EU membership.”
This first group of negotiating chapters covers the rule of law and fundamental rights, the functioning of democratic institutions, covers economic criteria, and public administration reform. It is composed of five chapters – Chapter 23 (Judiciary and Fundamental Rights), 24 (Justice, Freedom and Security), 5 (Public Procurement), 18 (Statistics), and 32 (Financial Control) – and, once it is opened, the other five clusters can follow.
The two Accession Conferences of 15 June in Luxembourg marked the effective end of the “package approach” that has linked the accession paths of Ukraine and Moldova for more than four years. Under that arrangement, when one candidate stalls, the other has to wait as well. From now on, each candidate will move forward at its own pace in the negotiations.
The long-awaited breakthrough began on 3 June, when Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar announced a “comprehensive agreement” with the Ukrainian counterpart on expanding the rights of the Hungarian minority in the Transcarpathia region. This was considered the essential condition for lifting Budapest’s veto on the opening of accession talks with Kyiv and, indirectly, with Chișinău. The 27 EU ambassadors initiated the process for the formal opening of the first group of negotiating chapters. Following a “broad support” for the Presidency’s proposal on the draft the EU common position, the fulfilment of opening benchmarks for Cluster 1 – ‘Fundamentals’ was approved on 12 June.
Chișinău’s goal to open the remaining five accession clusters “by the end of the summer” was anticipated by Ambassador Daniela Morari, Head of Mission of Moldova to the EU, speaking with The New Union Post. The expectation is that this commitment will be reflected in the European Council’s conclusions on 18–19 June, just a few days before the EU–Moldova Summit in Brussels on 22 June.
The formal opening of the first negotiating cluster “makes the process real and tangible for our citizens, showing that accession is not just a dream or yet another political promise,” Moldovan Prime Minister Alexandru Munteanu stated, referring also to the fact that “the path that we chose two years ago through the referendum is becoming a reality.”
Despite being ready for this moment “for more than a year,” he stressed that Chișinău did not waste time and found, with the EU institutions, “a way to move forward by front-loading the reforms and negotiations” through an informal approach which now “makes us feel the benefits.” Speaking on behalf of the rotating Presidency of the Council, the Deputy Minister for European Affairs of Cyprus, Marilena Raouna, welcomed the “long-awaited milestone,” while recalling that “continued progress will depend on sustained reforms and concrete results.”
From now on, the EU accession paths of Moldova and Ukraine will be decoupled, but the two candidates remain “good neighbours,” Prime Minister Munteanu reassured. Chișinău will “continue to cooperate” with Kyiv at many levels, including in the area of accession negotiations. Moreover, he announced that “we want to plan a trilateral meeting with Ukraine and Romania at the level of prime ministers to discuss common projects.”
The state of EU–Moldova relations
Just a week after the start of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, on 3 March 2022, Moldova submitted its application 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 conference was held on 25 June 2024 in Luxembourg.
With Viktor Orbán‘s Hungary vetoing the start of Ukraine’s EU negotiations, Moldova’s accession was also put on hold, as Chișinău’s EU process was tied to Kyiv’s through the so-called “package approach” (which linked the two dossiers from the very beginning). On 17 March 2026, technical guidance was provided by the Commission to continue work on EU reforms across all six negotiating clusters, before the change of power in Budapest and the agreement indirectly brought a new momentum for Moldova as well, paving the way for the opening of Cluster 1, ‘Fundamentals’.
