Dear President Sandu, dear Maia,
It is great to be back here in Chișinău today. Standing here on the eve of Europe Day, like you said, it is a reminder that Europe is stronger together.
Moldova is one of Europe’s closest partners, but we also want you to be actually part of us. And that is why we recognise the progress you have made – the remarkable progress you have made – in pushing through tough reforms.
We recognise your pace and determination. These reforms are real, sustainable and they benefit Moldovan citizens.
The EU wants to press ahead to get Moldova into the Union. But of course, accession is not only a technical process. It is also a political commitment. As we go about that, I want to assure you that Transnistria will not become an obstacle to Moldova’s European future.
Moldova already belongs to the European community, and we will soon hold our second EU-Moldova summit in Brussels. Today, we also discussed Russia’s war against Ukraine, which still shows no signs of abating. Almost 30 people were killed in Russian strikes in Ukraine on Tuesday. And Putin’s offer to have a ceasefire to protect his military parade in Moscow is a cynical ploy. Ukraine offers real ceasefires. Russia offers them in bad faith, only to break them shortly after.
We also spoke about resilience. Moldova remains caught in Russia’s hybrid war, but together, we can beat back those who mean you harm. When the Dniester River was polluted by a Russian attack, the EU mobilised support to clean up and provide safe drinking water. When Russia attacked critical energy infrastructure in March, European neighbours provided and supplied electricity. And as Russian drones violate your airspace, we are strengthening Moldova’s air defences. A new EU-funded radar system has now arrived. It will help provide better detection of Russian drones. And these examples show the practical value of our partnership. A stronger, more secure Moldova, better able to protect its citizens.
Through the European Peace Facility (EPF), we have already provided €200 million worth of assistance. Only yesterday, we saw a batch of vital equipment that has been delivered to Moldova. I will also propose to Member States to double the EPF funding to €120 million annually. This would be the largest ever EPF assistance measure for any beneficiary country after Ukraine.
And meanwhile, we also have our Partnership Mission here in Moldova that continues to support your institutions to build long-term resilience against foreign interference. This joint work provides hard won knowledge against Russian hybrid threats.
Dear President Sandu, dear Maia. Thank you for your leadership and for welcoming us here in Chișinău. Our message remains simple and clear: Moldova is not alone. Moldova is part of Europe! Thank you.
- Link to the video: https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/media/video/I-289118
Q&A
So, is there a deadline for the European Union to open the accession talks with Moldova at the political level, not only at the technical level? And is the change of the government in Hungary an opportunity to solve this deadlock? Thank you.
We have to move as fast as we can. A concrete deadline, concrete date, we have not set that date, but it is clear that we need to move fast. We need to use the political opportunity or the opportunity window, that is provided by a change of governments in different countries. But it is clear that we have a lot of elections coming in the European Union, in different countries. So that is why I also think that we should move while nobody is against Moldova. Because you never know when there comes a government that might have a bilateral issue. Although we have always said that bilateral issues should not be brought as obstacles for the process. So, really hoping to move forward fast, but giving you a concrete deadline, I cannot give you that right now.
As many, several EU Member States oppose the accelerated accession of Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, because we are somehow hand in hand to the European Union by opening or closing all the negotiations by 2028. In this context, is the 2030 deadline still realistic for the Republic of Moldova?
As I was also in this core group meeting, yes, this was discussed, that was very clear. It is important that we move on with everything that is required in this process, again, to have as fast enlargement as possible. Why I am saying this is that the opportunity windows we have might also close. And clearly one is open now. So, I think, around that table in the core group, that was a clear understanding that we should use this momentum.
So, Moldavan citizens, they celebrate both Victory Day and Europe Day on May 9, how do you reconcile communities that see this day in completely opposite ways?
Coming from a country that also has different communities and also different celebrations, the discussion, what we have had – why we cannot celebrate it as a Victory Day – it is because if after the 9th of May, when the war was over, Stalin would have told our countries that you are free to go with your freedom, with your independence and the country that you want, then we could also celebrate this as a Victory Day. But as the atrocities actually started for our countries, it is impossible to celebrate it as a Victory Day. But saying that, I am glad that we have a different past, what we should focus on is the common future, and that is what the Europe Day all is about.
Financial Times said that the EU is getting ready to negotiate Vladimir Putin on their war in Ukraine. Would you please confirm this information? Would those negotiations be really realistic? What would that mean for the peace in the region and for Ukraine, especially.
What we see is that these peace negotiations, that are ongoing, are not really going anywhere. And what we have seen is that all the requests are made to the Ukrainian side and none to the Russian side. So, before we talk to the Russians, we need to also agree what we want to talk to them about. And that is why I have proposed to the Foreign Ministers already some months ago, really a list of things that we need to see from the Russian side as well. Because there are also requests for Europe, if you think about the lifting of sanctions, for example. And that is why we are discussing this with the Foreign Ministers already in the end of May. And there, what concerns Moldova, I think the withdrawal of Russian troops from Transnistria should also be one of the EU’s requests.