I am honored to be here today to represent the United States at the third Moldova Support Platform ministerial, and to express our full and continued support for the Government of Moldova’s efforts to address the effects of Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine, build and grow a strong democracy, and continue to strengthen its connections with Europe.
Thank you to France, Germany, and Romania for hosting today’s conference and for their ongoing efforts to provide a platform for the international community to coordinate its support for Moldova.
We believe that stronger ties with the United States and Europe strengthen Moldova’s prospects for a democratic, prosperous, and secure future.
Since Russia’s unprovoked, full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Moldova has proven a steadfast friend to Ukraine, both through its principled opposition to Russia’s brutal aggression and its humanitarian assistance to more than 500,000 refugees seeking safety.
As we focus on improving international donor coordination and mobilizing additional support to meet Moldova’s winter needs in the energy sector, we appreciate France’s leadership efforts on climate, biodiversity, and energy transition issues.
We are moving in coordination with our Allies and partners on critical tools like foreign assistance. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, we have made available approximately $320 million in economic, security and humanitarian assistance focused on strengthening Moldova and maintaining stability to advance key reform priorities and promote economic growth.
The United States is committed to helping Moldova strengthen its energy security and diversification. In the short-term, we are providing $30 million in budget support to offset the higher costs of electricity purchases from Ukraine.
In the long term, we are supporting energy sector reforms to increase domestic power production, and reduce electricity imports, promote renewable technologies, and strengthen Moldova’s technical and regulatory integration with European energy markets. To this end, we have committed $40.5 million in funding since April.
We commend the Moldovan government for its focus on rooting out corruption and strengthening the independence and transparency of democratic institutions. The recent sanctions imposed by the U.S. Treasury on several Moldovan and Russian nationals over systemic corruption and their attempts to meddle in Moldova’s elections will help counter Russia’s attempts to destabilize and exploit Moldova’s political and economic institutions.
The United States is proud of our more than 30-year partnership with the Moldovan people and government to address immediate challenges and build a democratic, prosperous, and secure future. To this end, we are committed to working with our colleagues in Moldova and with international partners to address the impacts on Moldova of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.
But our important task in this forum is also to ensure that the donor community works together to help the Government of Moldova take concrete and positive steps that help its people to make difficult but necessary reforms; to create new economic opportunities; to tackle corruption; to help government agencies provide services to communities; to build the country’s capacity to defend its neutrality and territorial integrity; and to address the effects of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Moldova is a key strategic partner of the United States, and we must continue to stand with Moldova to protect and invest in its hard-won democracy and independence.
