Martha Kos
European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos is on a visit to Moldova. She said that she is visiting Moldova for the fourth time and some candidate countries are jealous of us.
“You are the best students in my class. You have shown the greatest progress during the year. It was a good year for Moldova, as well as for the European Union,” Marta Kos said at the conference “Enlargement Report 2025: achievements and priorities for Moldova’s future”.
She recalled the 1.9 billion euros promised by the European Commission to Moldova. “We have started the realization of the most important investment package Moldova has ever seen. These millions of euros will modernize Moldova. It will lead to fundamental changes: you will be able to develop your public investment centers and attract more foreign capital. These are critical elements for Moldova to reach the European level.”
The European Commissioner promised more money: “We are talking about 1.9 billion euros. But I promise that if you spend all the money, I will do everything in my power to give you even more. This money will have to be spent by the end of 2027, after which you will receive new funds. But I also promise that we will work together in this direction, and I consider myself part of your team, dear Moldovans. We will join forces to help you cope with this burden”.
“This growth plan involves a lot of money. But it must be spent efficiently. Otherwise, it is just money,” Kos stated.
She believes that only introducing legislation is not enough: the value of the effort will be tested by the quality of its implementation – “how these laws will change reality, not how they look on paper. And how people and businesses will feel it”.
The European Commissioner also announced that Moldova will become a part of the “European democratic shield”.
“Tomorrow in Brussels we will adopt what we call the “European democratic shield”, which is about the defense of democracy in Europe. And I am happy that part of this strategy will be dedicated to Moldova.”
Marta Kos gave reasons for Moldova’s “successes”:
“These are democratic institutions, the resilience of people in Moldova, the resilience of the system and, of course, the fight against this hybrid war. I don’t know if you realize it, but you won the confrontation with Russia. Russia wanted to intervene and you won and we won,” she said, referring to the results of the September 28 parliamentary elections.
Prime Minister Alexandru Munteanu said the successes were achieved with a lot of hard work and trials, but “everything that does not kill us makes us stronger.”
“Moldova has advanced four times faster in one year, and this progress is due to people who have read hundreds of thousands of pages of European legislation, spent nights and weekends doing it… And as Kelly Clarkson sings, ‘What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.’ That is our spirit. And Moldova can. We Moldovans can. We handled crises with our heads up, ensured stability, held fair elections, strengthened state institutions and promoted reforms in areas where nothing had been done for years,” Munteanu said.
The prime minister said that the main effort is to improve the quality of life.
“From today, the core of all our reforms and efforts is how to improve people’s lives. Of course, we are working on economic growth and we hope that our citizens will see the results already in the foreseeable future. We know the direction: Moldova is a member of the European Union. We know what we have to do. We need to be ready to finalize the membership negotiations by the end of 2027,” Alexandru Munteanu emphasized.
Marcel Spatar, chairman of the Parliamentary Commission for European Integration, also recognized that the level of GDP in Moldova leaves much to be desired.
“We know that the level of economic development, measured by gross domestic product per capita, is still insufficient to provide citizens with a standard of living comparable to the average in the European Union. Therefore, we must continue to invest and grow. It is important to demonstrate the dynamics of convergence, to show that we are investing in sustainable infrastructure, digitalization and innovation,” Spatar said
The agenda of Marta Kos during her visit to Chisinau includes meetings with the country’s leadership, with civil society and with the opposition.
At the meeting with the new government, she emphasized the priority of economic growth. At the upcoming meeting with the opposition, she promised to “extend her hand to cooperation”.
On Monday, November 10, President Maia Sandu signed a decree amending the composition of the National Commission for European Integration, appointing herself as chairperson of the Commission, Alexandru Munteanu as vice chairperson and Veronica Mihailov-Moraru, Presidential Adviser on Justice, as secretary.
We would like to remind you that recently the European Commission published a report on EU enlargement for 2025, noting Moldova’s significant progress towards membership. If the pace of reforms is maintained, the country may finalize the negotiations by 2028. The European Commission called this goal “ambitious but achievable”.
