EP25: Moldova and Georgia elections updated and Russian interference and joining the EU? Comments o other applicant candidates to the EU

Summary:

Moldova and Georgia are both holding elections that will determine their future direction: closer to Russia or toward the European Union (EU). In this episode we highlight the upcoming Georgian election on October 26th and share the results of a recent Moldovan referendum, which showed 50.16% of voters supporting closer ties with the EU. We also discuss the nine current EU candidate countries, including Moldova and Georgia, and provides a link for further information on each country's path to EU membership.

Questions to consider as you read/listen:

1. What factors are influencing Moldova and Georgia's choices regarding their future alignment with Russia or the EU?
2. How are the upcoming elections in Moldova and Georgia impacting the EU's expansion strategy?
3. What are the current challenges and opportunities for candidate countries seeking to join the European Union?

Long format:

Moldova and Georgia elections updated and Russian interference and joining the EU?

Just like Moldova, Georgia (the country not the state ha ha) has an election coming up that will help decide its path back towards Russia’s orbit or towards the EU. It’s good to keep an eye on this one too. October 26 is the election.

Recommend reading: https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2024/10/mil-241020-rferl02.htm

((The latest is that with 98.5 percent of the vote counted, some 50.16 percent of Moldovans votes "yes," to EU. Source: https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2024/10/mil-241021-rferl01.htm ))

I just looked this up and thought it might be interesting to share.

The following countries are currently candidate countries for membership in the European Union (EU):

Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Türkiye, and Ukraine.

More details for each candidate and its current path can be found here:

https://www.theparliamentmagazine.eu/news/article/eu-expansion-how-close-are-the-nine-candidate-states-to-membership#:~:text=More%20than%20a%20decade%20since,could%20be%20about%20to%20change