After their meeting in the European Parliament in Brussels, Roberta METSOLA, EP President and Igor GROSU, President of the Moldovan Parliament, give a joint press point. On 23 June 2022, the European Council granted candidate status to Moldova. It invited the European Commission to report to the Council on the fulfilment of the conditions specified in the Commission's opinion on the membership application. The Council will decide on further steps once all these conditions are fully met.The transcription is the result of an automatic process. Please, check against delivery.

Brussels

press point

EU - Moldova (T)

METSOLA, Roberta (EPP, MT, EP President)

president's agenda

GROSU, Igor

Moldova's application for EU membership (T)

Joint press point by Roberta METSOLA, EP President and Igor GROSU, President of the Moldovan Parliament

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, Good morning. Let me start by saying how pleased I am to welcome Igor Grosu, President of the Moldovan Parliament to the House of European Democracy. This visit, like the many from both sides, this and last year, underline the clear direction of our relations and the growing bond between us.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, This meeting today reinforces the message that Moldova is not alone. Moldova is Europe and Europe is Moldova. When I addressed a crowd of some 80,000 people in the Chişinău in May, I was impressed by the courage and the determination with which Moldovans have embraced a European course for the Republic of Moldova's future.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, I am equally encouraged by the pace with which you are moving forward on your reform path from our side. We welcome the latest support package for the Republic of Moldova and your participation in EU programmes such as Horizon and the Connecting Europe Facility. We will continue to call for Moldova to have access to more progress and to have a gradual integration into the single market.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, And we will also continue to support you through our parliament to parliament capacity building programmes as we seen this week in this Parliament. No doubt this autumn will be crucial for the Republic of Moldova and for Europe. I hope that we can have good news before the end of the year and that EU accession negotiations can start.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, Dear Igor, our values are non-negotiable and we share the same outlook. We do not accept aggression. We do not accept intimidation. We fight disinformation and protect the rules based world order. We stand for freedom, sovereignty and democracy.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, So, the message from the European Parliament is as clear as unambiguous. If countries look to Europe, our door must remain open because enlargement is our strategic investment in security, stability and prosperity on our European continent. It is a win-win process. Thank you, Igor. The floor is yours.

SOUNDBITE (English), Igor GROSU, President of the Moldovan Parliament, Thank you. Dear Madam President Metsola, honorable audience. Thank you for your welcome at the European Parliament. For our delegation, it feels like home here. The Parliament of the European Union has always stood by the citizens of the Republic of Moldova, by the democracy of our country, even in hardest times.

SOUNDBITE (English), Igor GROSU, President of the Moldovan Parliament, The European Parliament has always a visionary approach, underlining repeatedly that the Republic of Moldova, together with other eastern neighbours, must benefit from the provisions of Article 49 of the European Union Treaty, namely the right to become an EU Member States, sharing the Union's common values.

SOUNDBITE (English), Igor GROSU, President of the Moldovan Parliament, Today we are here in Brussels as a candidate country for the European Union membership. And the European Parliament was the first European institution that gave us the vote of confidence that serve as the incentive for the favourable decision taken afterward by the European Council.

SOUNDBITE (English), Igor GROSU, President of the Moldovan Parliament, We received this signal as confidence with the highest responsibility. All this year, since we have become a candidate state for the EU integration, we have worked hard to meet the expectations. With all my confidence, I can tell you that back home in Moldova we are working full time in all the sphere to achieve those nine recommendations of the European Commission.

SOUNDBITE (English), Igor GROSU, President of the Moldovan Parliament, The achievement of the recommendations comes in parallel with an extensive process of systematic reformation that we launched, from the justice system reset and the diversification of energy sources, to great urban and rural infrastructure projects. But these development efforts take place against the big ground of many unfavourable circumstances.

SOUNDBITE (English), Igor GROSU, President of the Moldovan Parliament, We are at the border with war in Ukraine, a ruthless war stealing lives and destroying an entire country. We had to learn on the go how to host thousands of Ukrainian refugees, how to provide new routes for the transportation of goods, how to fight intensified fake news and propaganda, how to diversify the energy sources to break away from the dependence of the gas originating from the aggressor state.

SOUNDBITE (English), Igor GROSU, President of the Moldovan Parliament, We need now more than ever the cohesion of the European Member States because it is only with EU support can Moldova and Ukraine can get closer to the free and prosperous world and can therefore become more resilient to aggression, to energy, blackmailing and propaganda. We are still a very vulnerable country and we need all the political, financial and expertise support from the EU member states can provide.

SOUNDBITE (English), Igor GROSU, President of the Moldovan Parliament, We would like also like to strengthen the cooperation, in particular the sectorial one with the European Parliament and the accession process, we need the expertise and we are ready to collaborate on the committee platform with a view to achieve the harmonisation with the European acquis in the best possible way. At the institutional level, our cooperation recorded promising results.

SOUNDBITE (English), Igor GROSU, President of the Moldovan Parliament, In 2021, we signed the Memorandum of Understanding between our institutions. The Roadmap for Strengthening democracy in Moldova was approved. We conducted seminars and for democracy support jointly by the European Parliament and the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova, as well as through Jean Monnet dialogue for peace and democracy, by which the European Parliament is helping us to strengthen the inter-party communication and create consensus.

SOUNDBITE (English), Igor GROSU, President of the Moldovan Parliament, Just the other day, the network United for Moldova, was created aiming to support the Republic of Moldova and its European aspiration. In this regard, I would like to thank the Member of the European Parliament who make up this Committee. Andrius Kubilius, Sigfried Mureșan, Petras Auštrevičius. I am confident that this platform will help us keep Moldova on the agenda of the European States and promote the progress made by our country.

SOUNDBITE (English), Igor GROSU, President of the Moldovan Parliament, The Moldovan has chosen the path of the European path and this has been confirmed by thousands of citizens of the European Moldova Assembly, really where you also participated, Madam President Metsola, for which I am very grateful to you. Your support and the support of the European Parliament is a crucial cornerstone for our country.

SOUNDBITE (English), Igor GROSU, President of the Moldovan Parliament, In the last two years, we have learned that we can only succeed with true friends, and all a concrete assistance can enable us to become a genuine democracy and contribute to the development and strengthening of the European Union.

SOUNDBITE (English), Igor GROSU, President of the Moldovan Parliament, I assure you that Moldova stepped firmly on the European path and the accession to the European Union is a goal that we see clearly and that will be achieved without delay. On behalf of all the citizens of my country, thank you once again for your support. Thank you.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, Thank you.