Maia Sandu, awarded for promoting European values

The president of the R. of Moldova, Maia Sandu, is the first recipient of the Timişoara Award for European Values

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Ştefan Stoica, 15.01.2024, 13:50

The
president of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu, Saturday received the ‘Timişoara
Award for European Values, established this year by the authorities of the
2023 European Capital of Culture to honour personalities who champion or uphold
European values within and outside the Union.

I
accept this prize, Maia Sandu said at the award ceremony, as a vote of
confidence in Moldova’s and its citizens’ capacity to see through their fight
for freedom. She also thanked Romania for its unwavering support, and said she
wanted for her country the prosperity enjoyed by the other EU member states.

Maia
Sandu: I would like to take this opportunity to emphasise the gratitude and high
appreciation for the support we have received from Romania, an unconditional,
brotherly support for which we will always be grateful. What we see here in Timişoara,
what we see in the European Union’s cities, is what we want for the Republic of
Moldova as well. Let the living standards I see in your city, the freedom of
thought and of speech, the European values become undefeatable, here and in the
Republic of Moldova.

The
Moldovan official also highlighted that the eastward enlargement of the EU has
been a large-scale historical reparation, which will not be complete as long as
countries like Moldova and Ukraine are left outside the bloc. The nations that
choose freedom, she argued, belong together with the states and peoples of the
free world, and not in a grey area, subject to constant threats to their
sovereignty and independence.

We all know that in the Republic of Moldova such
threats, be they direct or via disloyal agents, oligarchs willing to sell out
their fellow countrymen without shame, will not disappear, but rather they will
strengthen unless we break our harmful ties with the past. But we are not
afraid and we are not wavering. Over the past few years, we have managed to end
our dependence on Russian natural gas, we have redirected our exports to new
markets, we have been building and restoring bridges and roads connecting us to
the EU. The Republic of Moldova is no longer at the service of Kremlin;
instead, it is taking its fate in its own hands and stepping resolutely on the
path of European integration, Moldova’s president added.

She
also said that this has been acknowledged by the EU member countries in
December 2023, when they decided that Moldova and Ukraine deserve to start
accession negotiations.

In
these troubled times, Maia Sandu is not only a strong leader for her nation,
but a role model for millions of Europeans outside Moldova as well, the Mayor
of Timişoara Dominic Fritz emphasised. According to him, Maia Sandu believed in
Moldova’s European aspirations when many were dismissing them as utopian and, with
unbelievable effort and courage, she is fighting resolutely to shape a European
future for Moldova. (AMP)