Borrell: Moldova and its people have what it takes to prevail

As the presidential elections and the referendum on European Union accession approach in Moldova, the European Union “can clearly see Russia intensifying its hybrid attacks on Moldova’s democracy and stability”, EU High Representative Josep Borrell said in a speech delivered to the European Parliament by European Commission Vice President for Values and Transparency, Věra Jourová.

“Moscow’s objective remains unchanged: to derail Moldova’s efforts towards European Union integration and push the country back into its sphere of influence. A key part of this strategy is Russia’s disinformation campaign, which is specifically targeting the referendum to discredit the government’s pro-European Union policies by falsely portraying a lack of popular support for European integration,” Borrell said. “Moscow’s malicious activities aim at exploiting differences in Moldova’s society, spreading propaganda among the Russian speakers and trying to leverage the ambitions of the Transnistrian region and Gagauzia against the central authorities.” 

Borrell also reminded that the European Union has substantially increased its support to Moldova to strengthen its resilience. Moldova was the first country to sign a Security and Defence Partnership with the European Union. Since last year, the European Union Partnership Mission (EUPM) has been assisting Moldovan institutions in resilience building. Under the European Peace Facility (EPF), the European Union has allocated €137 million to strengthen Moldova’s armed forces since 2021. In addition, in 2023 the European Union established a sanctions regime targeting those who seek to destabilise Moldova, with two rounds of listings adopted so far.  

Concerning the Transnistrian region, he said that Moldova’s European future “cannot be taken hostage by the unresolved conflict”. 

“While European Union accession and conflict settlement are two different processes, all efforts must be made to ensure that the entire population of Moldova, including those in the Transnistrian region, fully benefits from European Union integration,” Borrell said.

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