Moldovan President Maia Sandu: “Russia wants to turn our country against Europe”

On Tuesday, Moldovan President Maia Sandu addressed MEPs in Strasbourg, focusing on threats to “our democracies”.

Welcoming President Sandu, European Parliament President, Roberta Metsola said, “we are all deeply impressed by your determination, courage and steadfast commitment to Moldova’s people, and your tireless work on steering Moldova on the path of democracy. We stand united in our support for Moldova and its democratic path to European Union membership.”

In her speech, President Sandu said that the upcoming parliamentary elections in the Republic of Moldova on 28 September would be the most consequential in its history and that the outcome would decide “whether we consolidate as a stable democracy” or (...) whether “Russia pulls us away from Europe” – turning Moldova into a threat on Europe’s eastern frontier. She outlined that Moldova’s lesson, and its warning, is that “if our democracy cannot be protected, then no democracy in Europe is safe.”

She then turned to the EU accession process, highlighting that many current EU countries were not complete democracies when they joined the EU. The same countries had fought dictatorships and overcome economic hardships, and “none of them did it alone”. President Sandu also stressed that, for the Republic of Moldova, EU accession is not just a technocratic process, “it is a race against time – to anchor our democracy inside the Union, where it will be protected from the greatest threat we face: Russia.”

With the Moldovan parliamentary elections approaching, President Sandu also talked about Moscow’s unlimited hybrid war, “on a scale unseen before the full invasion of Ukraine”. “The Kremlin’s goal is clear”, she said, “to capture Moldova through the ballot box, to use us against Ukraine, and to turn us into a launchpad for hybrid attacks on the European Union.”

“That is why this election is very important. By defending it, we protect not only Moldova, but also regional security and stability (...) Moldova may be the testing ground. But Europe is the target,” President Sandu continued.

The Moldovan President concluded by saying that Europe has endured – by adapting, rebuilding and turning fragility into strength. By protecting fragile democracies until they grew strong. The only way forward is to defend our democracies with teeth – and to defend them together.”