Today the leader of the Socialists and Democrats in the EP, Iratxe Garcia Pérez, together with the head of the Romanian delegation in the S&D Group, Dan Nica MEP, travelled to the Republic of Moldova and held meetings with several representatives, including its President Maia Sandu, Prime Minister Natalia Gavriliţa, President of the Parliament Igor Grosu and Defence Minister Anatolie Nosatîi.

Iratxe García expressed solidarity with the country and announced that she will request a plenary debate in the European Parliament on the situation of Moldova.

Moldova has requested to open negotiations on EU accession and the EU can bring hope to Moldovans, particularly the young, that their country’s future is in the EU. The current government is clearly committed to all necessary reforms, especially the reform of the judiciary and the fight against corruption. The S&D Group will work closely with Moldovans to help them on their path.

Iratxe Garcia said:

“We must address the needs and the future of this country, which is our friend and neighbour. We must help Moldova to improve its military capabilities to be able to defend itself, while providing more financial aid to protect vulnerable people in this country and also be ready to continue helping refugees.

“Moldova is showing solidarity and responsibility towards Ukraine but also towards the EU and it deserves all our support.  It has already been hit by the pandemic and it now faces the uncertainty of the Russian military threat as it advances from the South East, together with the economic and social consequences of a war on its doorstep.”

The leader of the S&D Romanian delegation, Dan Nica MEP, said:

“So far Moldovans have shown great generosity opening up their homes to Ukrainian refugees despite their modest resources. The public authorities are working closely with the Romanian border police but the EU must increase its support to this cross border cooperation, both to be ready in case more refugees arrive from Odessa and also to avoid any abuse by human traffickers.

“In the mid-term we must also increase cross-border investment and cooperation to develop infrastructure aimed at ensuring energy security for Moldova. Only through interconnection with Romania will Moldovans be able to escape dependency on Russia and avoid price instability.”