Donations
Veridica.md
Ukraine will intensify its “unintentional” bombing of the territory of the Republic of Moldova if it advances further on the path of European integration, leaving Kyiv behind, according to the pro-Kremlin Telegram channel “Smuglyanka”.
NEWS: Jānis Mažeiks’s statements that Moldova and Ukraine will be assessed separately for EU accession suggest that Kyiv has already been excluded and that there is a political solution with regard to Chișinău. Such an approach could anger Kyiv authorities and lead to more “unintended” bombings of Moldovan territory.
[...] The “carrot” for Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, which is the promise of joining the EU, has become a bit stale of late, because the [European] community is faced with an economic crisis. Nor is there enough political will to accept war-torn and corruption-ravaged Kyiv as a full member of the EU. But as far as Chișinău is concerned, judging by the statements of the EU ambassador to this country, there is a separate plan, which will depend on the developments on the frontline.
The most unexpected thing about the EU’s position might be the attitude of Kyiv authorities, which continue to rely heavily on military and financial aid. Should Moldova receive more aid than Ukraine further down the line, we might see cases of deviations and “unintentional” strikes on Moldovan territory. Nothing will stop the Zelenskyy regime from playing such “pranks”, to the detriment of the civilian population.
NARRATIVES: 1. Ukraine is ready to attack the territory of the Republic of Moldova because it is denied EU membership 2. Brussels “has completely ruled out Ukraine's accession to the EU.
BACKGROUND: The Republic of Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia submitted their candidacies to join the European Union in March 2022, shortly after the Russian invasion. The Republic of Moldova and Ukraine made further headway: in June 2022 they obtained the status of EU candidate countries. At the time, some voices claimed Brussels accepted the accession requests and responded quite quickly only in the context of the war started by Russia, and that Chișinău was taken into account as a “bundle deal” that included Ukraine.
In December 2023, the European Council approved the launch of accession negotiations with the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, after long discussions and negotiations with Hungary, a country that opposed a decision in favor of Kyiv. In that stage, however, the separate examination of the EU bids filed by Republic of Moldova and Ukraine was not on the table.
The EU ambassador to Chișinău, Jānis Mažeiks, recently said that, after the start of EU accession talks, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine will be evaluated separately. “Once negotiations begin, they will represent separate processes. There will be a very thorough examination of Moldova and Ukraine on their merits”.
PURPOSE: To fuel fears that Ukraine poses a military threat to the Republic of Moldova, as well as to draw attention away from the threat that Russia represents in this regard.
WHY THE NARRATIVES ARE FALSE: Stating that the advancement of the accession process negotiations will intensify the “unintentional” Ukrainian strikes on the territory of the Republic of Moldova suggests that Ukraine has attacked its western neighbor in the past. This is an older narrative used by Russian propaganda, which Veridica previously debunked. Missile or drone parts have repeatedly crashed on the territory of the Republic of Moldova. To suggest that Ukraine attacked the Republic of Moldova with anti-aircraft missiles is absurd. As their name suggests, such missiles are launched to stop an air strike. It is true that some models can also be used to destroy ground targets, and Russia is using them in Ukraine. Missile fragments crashed on the territory of the Republic of Moldova only when Ukraine was under attack by Russian forces, so one possibility is that, were these missiles actually Ukrainian, they simply malfunctioned, crashing on Moldova’s territory. On the other hand, Ukraine has no reason to attack the Republic of Moldova, and even if it had, such an attack would spell great prejudice, turning Kyiv from a victim into an aggressor. This would also further jeopardize Western support to this country.
There is no evidence confirming that Brussels has given up on Ukraine's EU accession process. The actual accession negotiations are expected to start this year, a long process that depends on the progress reported by each individual state.
GRAIN OF TRUTH: It is true that the EU accession of war-torn Ukraine, a large country with a pre-war population that accounted for around 7-8% of the EU’s total population, might take a long time.
---copie-image.webp)
