[EPA-EFE/GIAN EHRENZELLER] Print Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Moldova has asked allies to strengthen its air defence capabilities as war rages in neighbouring Ukraine, although what the country calls Russian efforts to destabilise it have so far failed, President Maia Sandu said on Thursday (19 January).Moldova’s pro-Western government has strongly backed Kyiv since the Russian invasion and submitted a formal request to join the European Union just a week after Russian troops rolled into Ukraine last February.“Russia did try to mobilise corrupt groups in Moldova and pro-Russian parties with the objective to take down the government, parliament and presidency and it doesn’t mean it has given up, but we have so far been able to maintain stability,” she said.Ukraine, Moldova should get EU candidate status, Georgia might need to wait, EU executive says The EU should grant candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova, bringing them a step closer to bloc membership, while Georgia still has some homework to do, the European Commission said on Friday (17 June) in a highly-anticipated opinion on the bloc’s future enlargement.EU entry involves a lengthy and complex process to bring local laws into alignment, including a key reform to the justice aimed at tackling corruption."