The head of European diplomacy, Kaja Kallas: Europe will be with the Republic of Moldova at every step

Kaja Kallas, the head of European diplomacy, gave assurances that Europe will be with the Republic of Moldova at every step, the insurance made at the 9th meeting of the Association Council of the Republic of Moldova-the European Union that took place in Brussels.

The two officials led the event in Brussels. Photo: Facebook

Kaja Kallas said that the Republic of Moldova and the European Union are close partners, the neighboring country being the first to signed a partnership in the field of security and defense with the EU. As a result of this agreement, Chisinau benefits from 200 million euros for defense and modernization of the army.

“I offered you almost 200 million euros in the form of vital aid for defense, to support the modernization of the armed forces of the Republic of Moldova. And through the EU growth plan, we are committed to offering 1.9 billion euros to support infrastructure and connectivity, among other priorities. These investments will help transform the economy of the Republic of Moldova and will benefit every citizen – but this partnership is beneficial for both parties. Moldova actively contributes to EU missions in Somalia and Bosnia and Herzegovina and hosts more Ukrainian refugees per capita than any other country. This is a powerful example of European solidarity ”, He added a high representative of the EU for foreign affairs and security policy and vice -president of the European Commission, Kaja Kallas.

The European official has stressed that the Kremlin will try to influence the vote this autumn, when parliamentary elections will take place in the Republic of Moldova, but Chisinau benefits from the support of Brussels to strengthen its resilience.

“Today, we discussed the war Russia against Ukraine, which has repeatedly expanded in the Republic of Moldova. Russia has violated the air space of the Republic of Moldova, used energy as a blackmail tool and has been mixed in your democracy. The future parliamentary elections in Moldova will be a main target of the hybrid war led by Moscow. Russia is likely to use a network of money, propaganda and constraint to try to influence the vote. The Moldovan people have the right to choose their future alone, without interference. That is why we extend the scope and magnitude of the EU partnership mission to strengthen the resilience of the Republic of Moldova. We already have a team of field specialists who support Moldova in combating illicit funding in the context of elections. And I recently sent a team of experts – a rapid hybrid reaction team to support Moldova in counteracting foreign interferences. You can count on the support of the EU to ensure the integrity of the elections ”, Kaja Kallas detailed.

The first EU-Moldova summit

The head of European diplomacy also mentioned that Moldova has made important progress on its European path.

“During my recent visit to Chisinau, I discussed the impressive progress of Moldova in the fight against corruption, in reforming justice and promoting democratic values. And today we discussed how we can go further. SUPPORTED REFORMS are essential to maintain this availability, and the path is very clear: Moldova belongs to Europe. Looking at the future, we face the first EU-Moldova summit, which will take place in exactly a month, and this summit will boost progress in many areas to energy on digitalization and education. In concrete terms, we want to accelerate the access of the Republic of Moldova to EU's payment systems, improve mobile services and start major infrastructure projects. These progress will improve the life of all Moldovan citizens ”, Kaja Kallas concluded.

For his part, Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean emphasized that Chisinau wants to open all the negotiation chapters until the end of 2025.

“To achieve this objective, we approved last week, at the Government, the National Accession Program in a medium-term plan, with reforms that we have already started and at which the teams from ministries, agencies, local public administration and civil society organizations work. We also rely on the support of the European Union in this process. We are true friends- always with us to support our efforts to build a developed society, but also in test times. You are with investments, through budget support, technical assistance, through common projects that make the lives of people better and help us keep peace and safety. And I want to give some examples: on Europe Day, I signed the Moldovan growth plan- an unprecedented financial aid and a proof that we have the confidence and respect of the European partners. Through this agreement we are committed to raising life standards, modernizing institutions and making investments to ensure economic growth ”, said the chief of the ministers' cabinet.

Country supported by the Union

The Chisinau official highlighted the fact that European support contributes significantly to the development of the Republic of Moldova.

“With European support, in difficult periods, I provided economic stability, I offered energy compensation, I intervened with social measures to defend the purchasing power of people. Also with European support, in the coming years, we will repair more roads, we will build new hospitals, we will modernize schools and universities, we will support the industrialization of agriculture, we will stimulate exports and development of our companies. For some alone, we should be half a century to achieve what we will do in the next few years. Along with the European Union we have the opportunity to do them much faster and to recover the development gap between Moldova and the European states. Also this year, Moldova has become a member of the single European Payment System in Euro-Sepa- and in the autumn, taxes for bank transfers will be reduced to and from the EU. I ensured the definitive independence of Moldova from the blackmail through gas and increased the production of renewable energy. We are in the process of completing the Unbundling process and, soon, the state will take control of the gas insurance infrastructure. We will complete until the end of the year the Vulcănești-Chisinau electrical line and make progress in the development of green energy: in April, for the first time, 36% of the total electricity consumption for Moldova was covered from renewable sources, and the total level of the installed capacities reached 665 MW- an increase of eight times in four years. I avoided a humanitarian crisis and a conflict that the Kremlin wanted to challenge in the Transnistrian region ”, said Dorin Recean.

The event in Belgium

On June 4, in Brussels, the meeting of the Association Council of the Republic of Moldova-the European Union took place, the event being chaired by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova, Dorin Recean, and the head of European diplomacy, Kaja Kallas.

The Republic of Moldova filed the request for accession to the European Union on March 3, 2022, more than a week from the beginning of the War in Ukraine. Chisinau obtained the status of country candidate for the Union in July of the same year, at the same time as Kiev.

On June 15, 2024, the ambassadors of the 27 Member States of the European Union gave the “principle agreement” for opening the accession negotiations with the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, the announcement being made by the Belgian presidency of the EU Council.