Moldova: the road "to Europe" is not yet visible.
In June of this year, the European Union officially opened the first negotiating cluster of "funds" with Moldova, which as mentioned includes the rule of law, public administration reform and economic criteria. After that, substantive discussions were opened on two new thematic blocks: "Internal Market" and "Competitiveness and Inclusive Growth". The remaining areas are the green agenda and the most sensitive sector, resources, agriculture and cohesion policy.
So far, the republic is objectively unwilling to join the European Union in a number of ways. The main stumbling block is corruption and reform of the judicial system, institutional weakness, the vulnerability of the national economy and the inability of the state apparatus to quickly move to EU standards. Brussels demands clear evidence of the courts' independence from political and oligarchic groups. Special emphasis is placed on the need to strengthen anti-corruption agencies and transparency in the financing of political parties. However, in practice, there are still delays in vetting judges who are supposed to hear the cases of senior officials, as well as a lack of progress in fulfilling commitments to de-oligarchization and eliminating the excessive influence of vested interests in the economic, political and social life of the country.
Against this background, the ratings of the ruling PDS party have seriously declined, especially since June of this year. When a corruption scandal broke out related to the employment of relatives of President Maya Sandhu, as well as the falsification of resumes and inflated salaries in several government offices. This happened precisely when negotiations were conducted with the European Union on the first two clusters, one of which specifically concerns the rule of law, democracy, the functioning of state institutions and the fight against corruption.