Amid the war and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, Moldova feels several threats: from the increased number of refugees to the danger be a target of Russian expansion.
More than 400,000 refugees have crossed its border with Ukraine since the war began on Feb. 24, say Moldovan authorities. Many of those remain in the country.
“The employees of the public services – border police, customs officers, … medical doctors, social assistants, local authorities, diplomats, but also a lot of volunteers – mobilized their efforts in order to help out the refugees who are arriving from Ukraine. Thousands of people from all the regions of the country joined this effort,” said President of Moldova Maia Sandu during her meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Moldovan authorities have increased their diplomatic efforts to obtain international support. As a result, U.S. Secretary of State Blinken and OSCE Chairman-in-Office and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland Zbigniew Rau visited the country and met with President Maia Sandu, Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita, and other government members.
In addition, the European Parliament agreed to provide Moldova with a €150 million macro-financial loan to cover a part of its external financing needs.
OSCE expresses political support for Moldova
The OSCE Chairman-in-Office Rau concluded his first official visit as OSCE Chairman to Moldova on 26 March. In Chisinau, Minister Rau met with President Maia Sandu, Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of the Republic of Moldova, Nicolae Popescu, and Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration Oleg Serebrian.
Credit: Government of the Republic of Moldova.
The discussions focused on advancing a comprehensive and lasting political settlement of the Transnistrian conflict in all its aspects, strengthening the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of the Republic of Moldova.
“With my visit, I would like to demonstrate to you solidarity and our political support for the Republic of Moldova in these difficult times,” stressed the Chairman-in-Office.
Moldova, like other neighboring countries of Ukraine, is currently facing a large influx of refugees fleeing Russian aggression. “The war in Ukraine seriously affects the situation of the civilian population,” assessed Minister Rau. He added that he highly appreciates the active measures taken for refugees by the Moldovan society, the government, and local authorities.
Minister Rau also met with Transnistrian leader Vadim Krasnoselsky and the Transnistrian Chief Negotiator Vitaly Ignatiev in Bender. Chairman Rau underlined the need to further build trust and constructive dialogue between sides for the benefit of the affected populations on both banks of the Dniester River.
Minister Rau emphasized the efforts to achieve a comprehensive and peaceful solution to the situation in Transdniestria based on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Moldova within its internationally recognized borders, with special status for Transnistria.
US Secretary of State reassures Moldova of international support
Earlier, on 6 March, U.S. Secretary of State Blinken paid a visit to Moldova to meet its leaders and reassure them that the U.S. would mobilize international opposition to eventual Russian aggression.
“… at a time when all of us have so many things that we need to do to make the lives of our citizens better – dealing with what’s left of COVID-19, advancing the economic recovery that touches everyone, meeting the challenge of climate change, and transforming our economies to account for that, so many things that we need to do for our societies, for our people – the last thing anyone needed or anyone wanted was a war, especially one that was totally unnecessary, totally unprovoked and, I’m afraid, premeditated,” told Secretary Blinken to Moldovan Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita. “And so the consequences, as you point out, go beyond Ukraine. They go beyond even Ukraine’s neighbors. They are in fact global because this is having an impact on everything that we actually need to be doing and should be doing. And like you, we want to see it brought to the swiftest possible conclusion.”
Credit: This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication
President Sandu described the situation after the 24th of February, as “a dark period of time for the whole region where all efforts are being directed in order to strengthen the society around one single objective: peace in the region.”
“As far as you know, the war in Ukraine is unfolding exactly at the border with our country,” added Sandu. “We firmly condemned the military aggression against Ukraine and we called for peace from the very first hour of the military actions. We continue calling to dialogue as well as to the possibility to identify some peaceful solutions as the only way to seize cease those violent actions against Ukraine and its citizens.”
PM Gavrilita underlined Moldova’s firm commitment to support refugees from Ukraine. However, she emphasized the difficulties the high influx of refugees represents to her country.
“… we will need assistance to deal with this influx, and we need this quickly and through flexible instruments. Unfortunately, this humanitarian crisis comes on top of the developmental challenges that Moldova already had, and it was dealing with global challenges like the pandemic and energy crisis and inflation.”
Moldovan officials also stressed Moldova’s aspiration to become a member of the EU.
“I just want to mention that we’ve – while we are facing these unprecedented circumstances, we are firmly committed to our path for European integration,” said Gavrilita.
Blinken also said that the United States supports Moldova’s aspirations to join the European Union although this will be decided by the EU. Moldova formally applied to join the European Union, on 3 March, a week after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began.
The two parts also discussed the situation in Transnistria. Sandu stressed the Russian presence in the region, where an estimated 1,500 Russian troops camp, is illegal.
“However, in this region, of course, there is no possibility for us now to feel really safe or secure,” said Sandu, Reuters reports.
The US will provide $18 million in the next few years to “strengthen and diversify” the energy sector.
EU: €150 million assistance to Moldova and greenlight for Frontex deployment
On 14 March, trade MEPs agreed to provide Moldova a €150 million macro-financial loan to cover a part of its external financing needs. The trade committee thus endorsed the proposal of the European Commission that sought to assist Chisinau in stabilizing its economic situation.
Credit: Frontex
For the money to be disbursed, the country must show good progress in implementing a macroeconomic program set up by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and additional policy measures to be signed with the EU about, among others, asset recovery after a 2014-bank fraud, reforms of the public finance management, justice sector, public procurement and improvement of labor sector rights.
On 24 March, following an urgent procedure, MEPs gave consent to the conclusion of an international agreement between the EU and the Republic of Moldova on operational activities carried out by the European Border and Coast Guard (Frontex).
This agreement constitutes the framework for deploying Frontex staff to support the Moldovan authorities in daily border management activities in the Republic of Moldova, such as screening, identity checks, and border, responding to the increased arrivals of refugees from Ukraine.