EU – The ex-Soviet, Romanian-speaking Republic of Moldova and Ukraine on Tuesday officially kicked off their EU-accession talks. According to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, ‘the path ahead will be challenging, but also filled with immense opportunities for Moldova and Ukraine. Together, we can forge a larger, more dynamic and forward-looking Europe.” The first talks are taking place in Luxembourg and along the process Chisinau and Kyiv must bring their legislations in line with the EU one. According to Radio Romania correspondent in Brussels, since they were given the candidate status the two countries have carried out adjustments in key areas proving their readiness to bring their legislation in line with that of the EU. Starting with these inter-governmental conferences, the accession roads of Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova are splitting now and the two countries will be treated differently, according to the speed they are applying reforms. Pundits believe this could be an advantage for the Republic of Moldova, which, from the European Commission’s viewpoint, has progressed better than Ukraine, heavily affected by war.