Ukraine war
“Hands off Moldova!”: Almost 50 countries join forces against Putin
Maia Sandu, President of Moldova, has the backing of almost 50 other countries in her commitment against Vladimir Putin.
© Soeren Stache / DPA
Moldova is fighting back against the “imperialism” of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Now Ukraine’s small neighbor is getting support from an alliance of historic proportions.
“Moldova is not alone” – this is the motto of a summit at which the heads of state and government of 47 European countries and the heads of the EU institutions are expected to attend on Thursday.
The meeting in Ukraine’s small neighboring country is intended to send a signal to Russian President Vladimir Putin: Hands off Moldova! The former Soviet republic has not only been subject to attacks from Moscow since the war.
“There has never been such a mega-event in the history of Moldova,” says Felix Hett, country representative of the SPD-affiliated Friedrich Ebert Foundation for Moldova and Ukraine. If everything goes well, the summit is proof of what the small country with just 2.6 million inhabitants can do.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy is also on the guest list
Moldovan President Maia Sandu has also invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The summit will take place symbolically at Mimi Castle, a winery near the Ukrainian border, around 35 kilometers south-east of Moldova’s capital, Chisinau.
Under the keyword “#MoldovaIsNotAlone” (Moldova is not alone), politicians have been making statements about the summit on Twitter for weeks – above all French President Emmanuel Macron. “We’re talking about energy, migration, security, defence, infrastructure and geopolitics in Moldova,” he announced in a cellphone video. “Because we share a continent.”
Macron came up with the idea of the European Political Community, which is meeting in Moldova for the second time after a founding summit in Prague in October. In the Czech capital, 44 countries practiced joining forces against Russia and its ally Belarus.
“Against Russian Imperialism” Summit
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) expects the summit to send a clear signal “against Russian imperialism,” as a government spokesman in Berlin said. On Moldova’s eastern border, Transnistria is a region ruled by pro-Russian separatists. Russia has soldiers stationed there.
“Moldova is a breeding ground for Russian influence,” says country expert Hett. “The Moldovan opposition is trying to regain power with Moscow’s help,” the pro-European government’s power base is “fragile.” In addition, Russia has fueled poverty in the country by massively increasing gas prices.
In order to prevent a crisis in Moldova, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced a financial injection of 250 million euros, primarily for energy, during a visit to Chisinau in autumn. The EU has also sent around 40 experts to Moldova to protect against Russian cyber attacks.
Will Moldova soon join the EU?
The pro-European government under President Sandu is hoping for fast-track EU accession by 2030, alongside Ukraine. Both countries have been accession candidates since last year.
A number of Moldovans already have an EU passport thanks to the close ties to neighboring Romania, says Hett. There is also “Europeanization from below” through people who went to work in Italy or Germany.
But the road to Europe is by no means a promise for all Moldovans, says Hett: “The biggest corruption scandal in recent history took place in 2014 under a pro-European government.” That damaged the ideals.
Hett is cautiously optimistic about the prospects for the country. Moldova is “booming” around the summit. If EU support continues and the government doesn’t ease up on its reform course, there are “good prospects for the future,” says the expert.