Reykjavik, Iceland

Moldovan President Maia Sandu told AFP in an interview that the country was seeking membership of the European Union (EU) "as soon as possible" in order to gain protection from Russian threat. President Sandu said that she hoped for a decision to start negotiations "in the next months".

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Moldova is a small nation of 2.6 million people. It is situated between EU neighbour Romania and war-torn Ukraine. It will on June 1 hold its first major summit of wider Europe.

President Sandu feels EU membership is the only guarantee against becoming Russia's next target.

Moldova is a former Soviet republic. It already has a breakaway region, Transnistria. Russia has stationed a small number of troops there.

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"Of course, nothing compares to what is happening in Ukraine, but we see the risks and we do believe that we can save our democracy only as part of the EU," Sandu said.

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"We do believe that Russia will continue to be a big source of instability for the years to come and we need to protect ourselves," added Sandu, on the sidelines of a Council of Europe of summit in Iceland that wrapped up on Tuesday.

Sandu, 50, is in office since 2020. In February, she accused Russia of encouraging a coup to seize power in Moldova.

She has called for Moldovans -- who polls show are overwhelmingly behind joining the European Union -- to hold a pro-EU rally on Sunday.

"The Ukraine war made things black and white. So it's very clear what the free world means, and what the authoritarian world means, for all of us," she said.

"We do believe that this is a realistic project for us and we are looking forward to see this happening as soon as possible," Sandu said.

Becoming a member of EU could take a decade or more. There is a long list of requirements which have to be met in order to join the countries in the European single market.

Challenges before Moldova

Unlike Ukraine, Moldova is small enough to be able to be integrated into the European Union relatively easily.

However, there are a few challenges in bringing Moldova's democratic standards up to EU levels, especially in terms of fighting corruption.

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The economy is fragile. There are questions of energy security and the issue of Transnistria, with its 30,000 pro-Russian population.

"We are struggling to have peaceful resolution of the conflict, and we've been calling on Russia to withdraw its illegally stationed troops," Sandu said.

"We need a geopolitical opportunity to be able to solve the conflict."

(With inputs from agencies)

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