On Sunday, tens of thousands of people came to a rally in the capital of Moldova, Chisinau, to express their support for closer ties with the EU. According to the police, about 75 thousand people participated in the action.
The event, initiated by President Maia Sandu and organized by the government, was boycotted by the opposition and was criticized by some pro-European non-parliamentary parties as a pre-election demonstration of the pro-presidential party “Action and Solidarity”, the Moldovan service of Radio Liberty reports.
The rally, which was attended by the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, was organized on the eve of the summit of the European Political Community in Chisinau. It is scheduled for June 1. It is noted that at this meeting Maya Sandu plans to gain support for the earliest start of negotiations on Moldova’s EU membership.
In her speech on May 21, President Sandu emphasized that the action was designed to demonstrate the desire of Moldovans to integrate with the EU. “We came to say directly: Moldovans are Europeans, Moldova’s place is in the EU,” Sandu said. She accused Russia, without naming it directly, that Moscow has been hindering the development of Moldova for 34 years.
Maya Sandu mentioned the war in Ukraine several times, confirming her support for Kyiv, even if, according to her, Moldova cannot make a big contribution to the defense of the neighboring country.
- The format of the European Political Community was created at the proposal of French President Emmanuel Macron in the fall of 2022. Among the tasks of the ociation of 44 participants is to improve the interaction between the EU and countries not included in the European blog, including the states of the Western Balkans and the Caucasus.
- Moldova was invited together with Ukraine to start negotiations on joining the EU in June last year, a few months after the beginning of the large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.