The opening of negotiations between Chisinau and Brussels with a view to joining the European Union is seen very positively in the country.
On Tuesday, Moldova and Ukraine officially began negotiating their accession to the European Union. This process, long and demanding, could take years… and in the case of Turkey, for example, it has still not been completed.
However, these discussions are already raising hopes in Chisinau, the Moldovan capital.
“Only now are we beginning to have a truly democratic and free society and we want to maintain it.“, explains Eugeniu Sinchevici, a member of the Moldovan parliament. “And the European Union will see to it“.
Other Moldovans do not forget their past and believe that despite joining the European Union, their country must maintain ties with its neighbors from the former Soviet bloc.
Hope for Ukrainian refugees
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, many Ukrainians settled in Moldova, like Olga Schyvchik. She comes from the Odessa region but her granddaughter was born here, two months after the start of the war. These negotiations allow her to dream of a better future for her child: “Of course, I want my daughter to be part of the European Union, to live in the European Union, in a civilized and developed country. That she has the opportunity to study, that she has the opportunity to express herself freely.”
Olga, however, has no illusions and knows that the road will be long.