Moldova has fully fulfilled three of the European Commission's nine recommendations issued a year ago and has made "good progress" in two other areas, according to a report presented to European ambassadors on June 21 and consulted by Europa Libera Romania. The oral, non-written report will be submitted to foreign ministers of member countries next week in Stockholm.

Moldova "should focus on confirmed efforts to combat corruption, on the quality of investigations and efficiency of prosecution in case of de-oligarchization and on the recommendations of the Venice Commission," the Commission stresses.

The progress is encouraging for the country that submitted last year its accession request, accepted by the EU in June 2022 and hopes to start membership negotiations by the end of this year. But it falls short of the more ambitious expectations expressed by prime minister Dorin Recean, who recently said that all nine recommendations would be met by June's interim assessment.

The European Commission will assess the progress of the candidate countries (Ukraine and Georgia, besides Moldova) in October, when a decision on starting specific accession negotiations may be issued.

iulian@romania-insider.com

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