Maia Sandu: Civil servants postpone vacations to advance EU accession

Many civil servants will have to give up their vacations for the sake of European integration

Many government employees will not take vacation in August, September, or even October, as they are involved in fulfilling the commitments made by the Republic of Moldova as part of the process of joining the European Union. This was stated by the President of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu.

“There are people who work very hard, and there are people who do important things, especially in the process of European integration. This is the most important project for our country in terms of security, development, and opportunities that will make Moldovan citizens want to stay at home,” Maia Sandu said on Jurnal TV.

According to the president, due to the set deadlines, many civil servants will have to forgo their vacations in order to complete the planned tasks.

“In all government agencies, there are many people who are working—some literally day and night. They won’t be going on vacation in August—because we have a deadline of September 1—nor in September or October, because we have an October deadline. They have to complete hundreds of tasks that we need to carry out. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them,” said the head of state.

Maia Sandu clarified that by September 1, the authorities intend to complete all—or at least 90%—of the measures required for the European Commission’s next assessment. Then, by October, the next phase of commitments must be implemented.

The president emphasized that a positive progress report is crucial for opening the next clusters of negotiations with the EU.

At the same time, Maia Sandu acknowledged that the judiciary remains one of the most challenging areas, with a large number of vacant positions.

“There is an objective explanation for this. The vacancies arose because we are conducting an external evaluation, and many judges are retiring either because they do not want to undergo this evaluation or because they fail it. We are trying to explain to Commission representatives that it is impossible to train new judges and appoint them to vacant positions overnight. Therefore, this issue remains a subject of negotiations and clarification,” the president noted.

At the same time, the head of state stated that she is satisfied with the pace of work by state institutions and added that, according to a representative of the European Commission, the Republic of Moldova remains the candidate country demonstrating the fastest progress toward accession to the European Union.