Moldovaʼs Foreign Minister Mihai Popșoi considers the country's accession to the EU by 2030 to be a realistic goal.

Popșoi says in an interview with European Pravda this is an ambitious goal, but it is realistic, "in the light of where we are today, achievements that we garnered in the reform process."

"Also objectively speaking Moldova is small. Also, we have challenges with capacity. But I think itʼs realistic. We think itʼs realistic and we will certainly work very hard to make that happen," the minister said.

He also admitted that Moldova will not be able to compete with those who have completed negotiations in a year or two.

"But several years should be a realistic time frame to finish negotiations and to join by 2030," Popshoy said.

Earlier this week, the foreign ministers of Ukraine and Moldova met in Kyiv to coordinate further actions to facilitate the early approval of the negotiation framework and the start of the actual accession negotiations between the two countries.

On 12 March, the European Commission officially presented the Council of the European Union with proposals for the draft negotiation framework for Ukraine and Moldova.

Now, the EU Council must start an internal discussion of the projects and approve them. The Council Presidency will then present the agreed-upon common EU position at the first intergovernmental conference with each country, marking the formal start of accession negotiations.

Media reports that approval of the negotiation framework could be delayed for several months and could happen after the European Parliament elections in June.