Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany

09/16/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/17/2024 05:28

Supporting Moldova together on its path to EU membership

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Supporting Moldova together on its path to EU membership

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbocktalking with Moldova's President Maia Sandu, © Photothek Media Lab

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16.09.2024 - Article

Putin was determined to destabilise Moldova. In fact, he achieved the opposite as Moldova is now on the path to EU membership. Foreign Minister Baerbock is travelling to Chisinau for the 5th Ministerial Conference of the Moldova Partnership Platform.

Each and every day and with remarkable strength, Moldova, Ukraine's smallest neighbour, is with our help standing up to the effects of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. Moldova is fighting against hybrid threats from Russia and Russian disinformation, having taken in hundreds of thousands of refugees from Ukraine.

Our message to the people in Chisinau is loud and clear: we will not wane in our support for Ukraine and our partners in Eastern Europe - first and foremost the Republic of Moldova. We are once again stepping up our efforts to support Moldova on its path to the EU.

The Moldova Partnership Platform

In the shadow of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, Russia was also intending to destabilise Moldova. It turned off the gas flow to Moldova and hugely restricted trade with the country. Inflation rocketed to 30%. Putin had already been working to support separatists. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, together with her colleagues from France, Romania and Moldova, launched the Moldova Support Platform in April 2022 to ensure Putin's perfidious playbook does not succeed.

As European partners, we are using the platform to ensure that Moldova receives concrete assistance and to put solidarity with Moldova on a firm footing in the long term. Hence, the decision was taken last year to upgrade the platform to a Partnership Platform. After all, Moldova is our partner and friend - on an equal footing. Through the platform, conferences were held in Berlin (April 2022), Bucharest (July 2022), Paris (November 2022) and Chisinau (October 2023). At the 5th conference in Chisinau, the Moldova Partnership Platform is to be further developed. The conference is focussing on secure energy supplies for Moldova, cyberdefence and the country's reform plans.

Moldova's EU perspective

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Enlarged Weimar Triangle: Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbocktalking with Foreign Ministers Radosław Sikorski, Poland), Mihai Popşoi (Moldava) and Stéphane Séjourné (France; from left to right).© Photothek Media Lab

Just two months after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Moldova decided to submit an application for membership of the European Union. The Republic of Moldova has been an official accession candidate since June 2022 and the European Council decided in December 2023 to open accession negotiations with the country. In October 2024, Moldova is holding a referendum on whether to anchor accession to the EU as a goal in its constitution.

Moldova has drawn up an ambitious reform agenda for its path to the EU. The challenges are huge, particularly given the economic situation and the prospects for Moldova's young population. Moldova is working in exemplary fashion to counter destabilisation attempts by Russia which is trying to gain influence also using false or manipulated information in social media.

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