Until December 2020, the ex-Soviet Republic
\nof Moldova, led by pro-Russian officials, was constantly in Moscow’s tow. Pro-European
\nvoices were however present, as confirmed by the country’s signing in 2014 an
\nassociation agreement with the European Union, providing for cooperation in areas
\nlike trade and culture.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
But Moldova categorically broke with Russia less than 2 years ago, with
\nthe election of the pro-European Maia Sandu as head of state, replacing the
\npro-Russian Igor Dodon. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Geographically, Moldova stands between the eastern part of the EU (neighbouring
\nRomania) and Ukraine, with some of its territory occupied by Transnistria, a
\nsmall self-proclaimed breakaway republic backed by Moscow. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Quite a few political and military analysts voiced concerns that in the
\ncontext of the invasion of Ukraine, Russia might take advantage of its military
\npresence in Transnistria to launch an offensive in that region as well. Fortunately,
\nat least for the time being, this is only a hypothetical plan. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, with millions of Ukrainians fleeing the war, the Republic
\nof Moldova is receiving the largest number of refugees per capita in Europe,
\nwhich puts tremendous pressure on Europe’s poorest state. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Under these circumstances, Germany, France and Romania Tuesday
\nco-chaired an international conference in Berlin, aimed at putting together a
\nsupport platform for that country. Around 50 delegations took part,
\nrepresenting international organisations and some 30 states, including EU
\nmembers, the US, Canada and Japan. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Donors pledged with over EUR 695 million in aid for Moldova, 100 million
\nof which will be non-reimbursable financial assistance. They also agreed to
\ntake over nearly 12,000 of the almost 100,000 Ukrainian refugees currently in
\nthat country. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Our message is clear: the Republic of Moldova is not alone, said Germany’s
\nforeign minister Annalena Baerbock, alongside her French and Romanian
\ncounterparts, Jean-Yves Le Drian and Bogdan Aurescu, talking to the Moldovan PM
\nNatalia Gavrili\u0163a. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
According to the German official, this assistance will be the start of a
\nsustainable support platform, with further aid to follow in areas like
\ndiversifying energy sources, border management and political reform. All of
\nthese are designed to help Moldova ease out its dependence on Moscow. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Moldova is the most vulnerable among Ukraine’s neighbours, Natalia
\nGavrili\u0163a said, and added that her country has no security umbrella to rely on
\nand therefore it needs good friends and reliable partners. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The next donor conference for Moldova may be hosted by Bucharest. (A.M.P)<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Moldova has secured international political and financial support in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian war<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":109,"featured_media":91775,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[29944,33637,31090,37473,39881,32942,29130,36471,29310,28905,36582],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-91774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-aid","tag-assistance","tag-conference","tag-donor","tag-ex-soviet","tag-financial","tag-moldova","tag-republic","tag-russia","tag-ukraine","tag-war"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n