The opposition Communist Party in Moldova calls for a boycott of the “European referendum,” Konstantin Starysh, a member of its political executive committee and deputy of the parliament of the republic, told reporters in Chisinau.
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Moldavian President Maia Sandu previously proposed organizing a referendum so that citizens could express their opinion on the country’s accession to the European Union. The referendum could take place on the same day as the presidential election. The Moldovan authorities have repeatedly stated that they set themselves the goal of joining the European Union by 2030. On December 7, Sandu announced the start of consultations with parties on the organization of the referendum.
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“Today we held a plenum of the party, including a referendum initiated by Sandu. Our position is this: Sandu, who led the Action and Solidarity party before being elected president, is trying to implement another fraudulent scheme for maintaining herself in power contrary to the interests of the state and the overwhelming majority of Moldovan society. No referendum can in any way bring Moldova’s accession to the EU closer, this is pure manipulation. The communists call on colleagues from other parties and citizens to boycott this scam,” Starish said following the party meeting.
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The EU summit on December 14 decided to launch negotiations on future membership of the European Union with Ukraine and Moldova. In June 2022, the EU granted EU candidate country status to Ukraine and Moldova, setting several strict conditions for the formal start of accession negotiations. The EU has repeatedly admitted that such a decision was largely symbolic in order to support Kyiv and Chisinau in their confrontation with Moscow.
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The status of an EU candidate country, as well as the start of negotiations, does not necessarily mean that the country will join the European Union; these steps also do not oblige Brussels to anything. Obtaining candidate status is only the beginning of a rather long journey towards joining the EU. Turkey has been in candidate status since 1999, and has been “conducting” membership negotiations with the EU since 2005, North Macedonia has been a candidate since 2005, Montenegro since 2010, Serbia since 2012. Croatia was the last country to join the EU in 2013; the process took 10 years.
