From a perception point of view, the Republic of Moldova is taking concrete steps towards the EU, but in reality, things are a little nuanced and should be explained as such. The goal is not to produce colorful reports that look good on paper, but rather to transform society and align it with Western democratic standards.

We cannot have unrealistic expectations given the fragile stability caused by internal corruption, which is still quite high, and Russia’s hybrid war against the Republic of Moldova. Obviously, spectacular results cannot be achieved overnight, and the transition process to the EU, which took at least eight years for the countries of Central and Eastern Europe that joined the EU, is not a process that can be shortened, in which stages can be skipped or certain shortcomings overlooked.

However, skipping stages is neither a viable nor a healthy option. That is why Chisinau’s mentality must increasingly shift towards bureaucratic alignment with EU requirements and less towards expectations full of political clemency and emotion on the part of the EU.

If at the beginning of the war in Ukraine the slogan “small country with a big heart” worked and the EU was convinced that there was enough European spirit in Chișinău to show solidarity with the victim of unjust military aggression, now is the time for the Republic of Moldova to deliver to Brussels the technical things that the EU expects.

The second independent monitoring report by the Moldovan civil society at the end of last month on the assessment of Moldova’s progress in implementing the European Commission’s recommendations on the “Fundamental Elements” cluster in the context of accession to the European Union shows conclusions somewhat similar to last year’s report.

Modest progress

More specifically, there is a rather modest pace in the average score of requirements met by the EU regarding the accession process. If the highest score in the report was 5 and the lowest was zero, the median implementation of EU requirements was somewhere around 3, which should still be a wake-up call for proEuropean forces in Chisinau.

The 12 chapters evaluated by civil society experts from some of the highest-rated NGOs estimated in mathematical terms that around 65% of EU recommendations had been successfully implemented, which is progress, but not something to be entirely happy about.

In technical terms, the authors assessed that “Implementation has been initiated and some noticeable progress has been achieved” and that the pace of progress in the various areas covered is uneven.

The fight against electoral corruption

In order not to present the conclusions of the report in a purely negative light, it should be noted that the 6 Monthly newsletter, No.8 (234), August 2025 Republic of Moldova has made significant progress in combating electoral corruption, particularly that perpetrated by the criminal group led by Ilan Shor, which operates under the direct supervision and funding of Moscow. Russia is the main declared opponent of the Republic of Moldova’s integration into the EU.

The authors of the report welcome the amendments to the Criminal Code introducing higher penalties for vote buying. However, these new penalties were debated rather hastily with civil society experts, and the amendments were not exactly agreed upon with the Venice Commission, which creates a vacuum in the area of public debate and consensus with the relevant European bodies.

With regards to the justice, the authors note that the reform has had mixed results. Among the strengths are the developments of the extraordinary vetting process for magistrates, especially in the pre-vetting stage, through the election of new members to the Superior Council of Magistracy (SCM) and the Superior Council of Prosecutors (SCP), as well as the modernization of the National Institute of Justice (INJ).

The authors also note an accelerated process for resolving corruption cases, thanks to the specialization of the panels. On the other hand, there is a chronic shortage of judges and magistrates, which is paralyzing the administration of justice.

The work of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (APO) is also appreciated, but the lack of consistency in reforming this institution is also noted at a time when it had begun to deliver results in high-level corruption cases through the “decapitation” of the APO, with the somewhat politically forced resignation of Veronica Dragalin and the initiative to form PACO, a new entity to fight high-level corruption by merging the APO and PCCOCS. However, the reform project died in its infancy, and today PACO exists only on paper in the drawers of parliamentary offices.

Human rights and freedom of expression – one step forward, one step back

Domestic violence remains a major problem in Moldovan society as a whole, although certain steps have been taken to align with European standards. On the other hand, the Republic of Moldova still lags behind in terms of the wage gap between women and men, as well as between certain sectors of the economy.

Similarly, the inclusion of Roma, especially the schooling of children from Roma families, remains a major problem that the authorities have yet to address.

As for the media, although new legislation has been drafted to require transparency in the ownership and financing of online publications, this legislative package has been stalled in Parliament for several years.

At the same time, sanctions against those who use physical or verbal violence against the press are slow to be imposed and are insufficient to deter such reprehensible acts, which are on the rise as tensions mount in society due to various elections.

With regard to stopping media outlets affiliated with malicious foreign interests or oligarchs, the authorities have chosen an uninspired and highly controversial solution, namely not to let the media regulatory bodies decide who is engaged in journalism and who is engaged in propaganda. Instead, this lever has been given to the Strategic Investment Council, which is subordinate to the government.

This practice is not at all in line with EU rules. However, the government has suggested that this exceptional measure is justified on the grounds of ensuring state security.

Towards European metamorphosis

It is imperative that, in the scenario where they win next month’s parliamentary elections, pro-European forces press hard on the accelerator in the area of reforms. Russia’s hybrid war will not diminish in intensity in the near future, regardless of the outcome of the parliamentary elections.

Under these circumstances, the Republic of Moldova must take advantage of this favorable situation, because this window of opportunity will not remain open indefinitely, and internal elections in various countries, especially Romania, where extremist and populist forces are already polling at around 40%, could play a negative role in possible future opposition to EU enlargement if they come to power. This is currently the case with Hungary, the main member of the European Union opposing Ukraine’s accession to the EU.

In conclusion, reforms should not be seen as a series of conditions that must be ticked off, but as real and necessary transformations to change Moldova’s mentality from that of a post-Soviet state to a European one, following the already successful model of the Baltic countries, which went through the same transformations in their time to become respected members of the European concert today.

The editorial was published in the FES/APE foreign policy newsletter.