EU to hold technical talks with Moldova on membership

Ministers of foreign affairs from the European Union are set to decide on Monday, 15 December, to continue technical-level negotiations on Moldova’s accession to the bloc, in a process similar to that undertaken with Ukraine.

European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, Marta Kos, confirmed the plan, Caliber.Az reports per foreign media.

The technical talks will focus on clusters 1, 2, and 6 of the accession framework. However, the formal opening of these clusters requires the unanimous agreement of all 27 EU member states, which has not yet been secured.

Moldova formally applied for European Union membership in March 2022, shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine prompted Kyiv and Chisinau to accelerate their EU integration efforts. The country has been implementing reforms in governance, judiciary, and anti-corruption measures to align with EU standards.

In June 2022, the European Commission granted Moldova candidate status, paving the way for accession talks. Since then, technical discussions have been organised in “clusters,” each covering different policy areas such as the rule of law, economic governance, and justice.

By Aghakazim Guliyev