EDITORIAL ⟩ Moldova's European choice

SLAPPED MY FINGERS WITH THE RULER... GOOD THEY DIDN'T KICK MY BACKSIDE AT LEAST... WITH THE EUROPEAN BOOT... Illustration: Urmas Nemvalts

• Moldova still has much to do to accede to the European Union.
• Moscow's influence needs to be weeded out as much as possible.
• At the same time, Moldova must not become the next hotbed of conflict.

Moldova's narrow tilt toward the European Union in the referendum provides an encouraging sign for the EU to increase its support for Moldova. However, Moldova still has much to do to qualify for EU membership.

Alongside the presidential elections, Moldova's President Maia Sandu also announced a referendum to ask whether Moldovans want to become EU members by 2030. Polls supported Sandu's move – just last week, they showed that 63 percent of people wanted Moldova to join the EU in the future. However, the actual referendum result was an extremely slim victory for Sandu and the pro-European camp – just over half of the voters were in favor, meaning nearly half were against. Polls also indicated that Sandu would win the presidential election in the first round, but this did not happen either – Sandu received 42 percent against her opponent Alexandr Stoianoglo's 26 percent. There will be a second round.

The question now is what to do with the referendum result. On the part of the EU, the referendum result must be taken as a legitimate expression of the people's desire to join the EU. Although the EU has granted Moldova candidate status and, just last week, it announced a 1.8 billion euro aid package for the country, more needs to be done.

The European Union must understand that the era of Eastern Partnership, where Eastern Partnership countries were given token amounts of money to at least somehow stay on the path to Europe, is over. Due to the full-scale war in Ukraine, the stakes are higher, and any increase in Russia's sphere of influence will undermine European security.

It is definitely in Estonia's interest for Moldova to eventually join the European Union, but this should definitely be done by fulfilling the membership criteria.

But, of course, EU assistance cannot happen without Moldovans' own efforts.

First and foremost, Moldova needs to weed out Moscow's influence as much as possible. This may not be easy, given that in pro-Russian Gagauzia, for example, only five percent of people voted in favor of the EU. Besides, part of Moldova, Transnistria, is occupied by the Russian army. But the effort must be made. Moscow's influence activity is definitely weaker due to the war in Ukraine, because the main resources are directed at Ukraine. Second, Moldova needs to realize that the European Union has firm membership criteria, which means the fundamentals of the rule of law and the enforcement of laws.

It is definitely in Estonia's interest for Moldova to eventually join the European Union, but this should definitely be done by fulfilling the membership criteria. We do not want to see a country in the union that is free riding and living at the expense of others. Estonia has also provided a lot of assistance to Moldova within the Eastern Partnership framework, allotting places for future Moldovan diplomats to study at our school of diplomacy and introducing our reform experience to Moldova. This work can only continue and, if possible, increase.

The European Union, including Estonia, is also interested in ensuring that Moldova does not become a conflict zone from which refugees start moving towards the EU or where a pro-Moscow leader might use refugees in hybrid warfare in the future, as Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko is doing. The best way to avoid this scenario is indeed through Moldova's stable development towards EU membership.