Moldova is one of Europe’s poorest nations, plagued by unresolved territorial disputes over Transnistria, entrenched corruption challenges, and persistent Russian interference. It’s also the most recent country to have chosen a future as part of the European project over domination from Moscow.
By contrast, Britain chose to voluntarily step away from the project, opting to go it alone in the name of “taking back control”, encouraged by individuals who view Moscow’s intimidation tactics and imperialist war in Ukraine as its right.
So I must begin, dear reader, with a question: if Moldova can find the courage to embrace Europe, why can’t Britain rediscover it?
Moldova’s recent election results must be seen as a case study in European resolve. The Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS), a member of the European People’s Party, gained 55 seats out of a possible 101. The response from the Moldovan people couldn’t be more precise: they have delivered to themselves a mandate for EU membership. They have spoken out loudly and clearly against corruption and Russian influence. This is only further evidence of the EU’s growing moral and political magnetism in Eastern Europe.
While Britain has drifted from Europe, the geopolitical threats facing both us and Moldova are the same: Russian aggression threatening our continent, democratic backsliding and economic insecurity fuelled by decades of reliance on Russian energy. Now, more than ever, we must realise that European solidarity is our most outstanding defence from NATO-EU complementarity, to the benefits of the single market, and our shared liberal democratic values. Moldova has shown us that Europe is not a constraint upon sovereignty, but a shield and a platform for self-determination.
Let’s not kid ourselves; Britain is facing stagnant growth, declining global influence, and increasing isolation. Meanwhile, the EU is expanding eastward, with Moldova, the Western Balkans and, with any hope, Ukraine joining the partnership. This widening moment is Britain’s opportunity to establish relations with the EU and negotiate entry.
It’s no secret that we, as Liberal Democrats, support rejoining the EU. And now, more than ever, is the best opportunity for us to push for such a reality. We must insist upon defending openness, the rule of law and internationalism; all values that the EU embodies. Moldova’s choice shows that the EU remains the gravitational centre of our continent. Britain can either orbit closer or drift into irrelevance.
From Chișinău to London, the message is clear: Europe is our future. If Moldova has the courage to face down Moscow and embrace it, then surely Britain can face down its own doubts and do the same.
* Jack Meredith is a member of the Welsh Liberal Democrats and an active campaigner and canvasser with Swansea and Gower Liberal Democrats. His writing focuses on democratic reform, social justice, trade unionism, economic democracy, and the institutional foundations of effective government. He has written for the Fabians, Lib Dem Voice, Liberator, Nation Cymru, Bylines Cymru, and Centre Think Tank.
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11 Comments
I agree with everything Jack Meredith says about the importance for Britain of joining the European Union.
However the really difficult political question, for which there is no easy answer, is when our Party should start campaigning explicitly with this message. That is the question our leadership have been grappling with for years. In 2024 it was very important for us to gain support from those who had voted Leave, as well as those who voted Remain.
As time passes, more and more of those who voted Leave either change their minds, or die since Leave voters were in aggregate older than Remain voters. However when to campaign to join the EU is not an easy question to answer.
I would have thought the answer to why the Moldovan Government wants to move closer to Europe is obvious – and also not really applicable to the UK: Most obviously Moldova, as a relatively poor country, stands to gain a huge amount economically by joining a bloc of richer countries and thereby benefitting from subsidies and trade that will tend to level it up to the standard of the average country within that bloc. The UK, as a country that is already as rich as typical EU countries, would not stand to gain in the same way. Further, it is very unlikely that Freedom of Movement would cause hundreds of thousands of people to choose to suddenly move to Moldova, putting all the pressure on housing etc. that is a big part of the reason people in the UK didn’t want to be in the EU – so the big disbenefit of EU membership that we suffered doesn’t apply to Moldova.
Then there’s Russia. Russia arguably threatens all countries in Europe to some extent, but the threat to Moldova is astronomically greater than the threat to the UK – again giving a strong motivation to Moldova to gain the psychological protection of the EU in a way that doesn’t apply to the UK.
In short, you just can’t compare Moldova and the UK in the way you’re trying to do.
In response to Simon R:
The beauty of an opinion piece is I can compare them, as I just have. I would 100% welcome any piece toy may wish to write in response to this, to have a respectful discussion on the matter 🙂
A very good article.
@John Stevens
Thank you!
Simon’s right in his analysis. Moldovans and Brits have their own separate reasons for voting the way they did.
Possibly, at some future time, the EU will become so attractive to everyone in the UK that we’ll see a large net migration outwards and into the EU.
That’s more likely to become Moldova’s problem though if they do join.
Mohammed Amin seems to be suggesting that he is literally looking forward to “leave” voters “dropping dead”. There is many a Freudian slip ‘twixt cup and lip.
Freedom of Movement was not the driver of high immigration levels; eliminating it merely restricted the lives and opportunities of British citizens without addressing the underlying issue. Brexit’s primary achievement in immigration terms was simply shifting the source: EU migration was replaced by non-EU migration, while British citizens lost their reciprocal rights to live and work across 27 European countries.
The UK’s birthrate has remained below replacement level since the early 1970s. Despite sustained immigration, the worker-to-retiree ratio has declined sharply—from 5:1 in 1950 to approximately 3.5:1 today. This demographic reality explains why successive Conservative governments never delivered on their pledge to reduce net migration to the tens of thousands. The economic consequences of doing so—particularly for pension provision and elderly care—would have been severe.
” if Moldova can find the courage to embrace Europe, why can’t Britain rediscover it?”
Rediscover? We’ve never “embraced Europe”. If we had we’d have signed up to the Euro, not pursued any opt-outs, been a part of Schengen and had become inner circle members of the EU in the same way as Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, France, Spain etc.
Part of the Remainer argument was that we hadn’t embraced the EU! We had negotiated a good deal on the fringes. So even most Remainers hadn’t been that keen on ’embracing’. Maybe it would have worked better in 2016 if they had. The argument that we should have stayed for purely economic reasons was never going to enthuse the electorate.
“As time passes, more and more of those who voted Leave either change their minds, or die since Leave voters were in aggregate older than Remain voters.”
This theory doesn’t fit the facts. If it did the percentage support for Leave in 2016 would have been less than it was in 2015, and even less than in 2014, and less still than in 2013 etc etc.
UK membership of the EU was not a salient issue for most voters before the 2016 referendum campaign, so any previous polling on it is not directly comparable with either the referendum result or subsequent polling.
The EU’s flaws become more obvious as time passes. Rejoining on worse terms than we left on is never going to happen. Please move on and face the future.