Donor conference for Moldova: “No one is Russia’s backyard”

The neighboring country of Moldova is also affected by the Ukraine war. A donor conference in Berlin has now pledged 659 million euros and further aid – a clear signal to Moscow.

The world is not abandoning Ukraine’s small and vulnerable neighbor – that is the main message that should come out of the Berlin aid conference. But the German Foreign Minister was keen to send out another signal, the addressee of which can certainly also be located in Moscow: “No country is available, nobody is Russia’s backyard, nobody is condemned to live in eternal bondage because the Russian government that wants it in nationalist delusion,” explained Annalena Baerbock. In other words: if Germany and Europe support the Republic of Moldova, then that also has a lot to do with Russia.

“Coal, then oil, then gas”

The Greens politician, who is fundamentally behind the EU plans to ban Russian coal imports, announced that the European Union would respond to Bucha’s war crimes with a fifth package of sanctions – and at the same time called for a concrete roadmap for the announced complete phase-out of Russian fossil fuels : “Starting with coal, then oil, then gas.”

Poland became clearer. The country used the conference to call on Germany in particular for an immediate Russian oil and gas boycott, which Berlin has so far rejected: “Are we discussing that German customers have to pay 30 cents or 50 cents more for petrol at the gas station?” asked Vice Foreign Minister Szymon Szynkowski. “Is this really too much to stop Ukraine’s suffering?”

Financial aid worth 695 million euros

When the international community helps Moldova, which is neighboring Ukraine, it also aims to wrest the republic, which would like to become a member of the EU, from Russia’s influence.

The international community will support the country particularly affected by the Russian war against Ukraine with financial aid totaling 695 million euros. Even before the conference, Germany had announced an untied financial loan of 50 million euros and an increase in an aid package from the German Development Ministry from 35 to 40 million euros.

“I am sure that with the unity and solidarity that we experienced at the conference, we will overcome the difficulties,” Moldovan Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita said with conviction.

Flights for the refugees and help with the electricity supply

But the Berlin conference was not just about money: 12,000 war refugees are to be brought to other countries with additional flights. In relation to its own population, Moldova has taken in the largest proportion of refugees from Ukraine.

And: The EU wants to help one of the poorest countries in Europe with the power supply. Moldova is almost 100 percent dependent on Russia for energy imports. “We don’t just need staying power. We have staying power together,” the German Foreign Minister assured the Moldovan Prime Minister. After all, everything you do is also about Europe and shared freedom.