During a visit to Chisinau today, Czech President Petr Pavel assured his Moldovan counterpart Maia Sandu of Czech support for Moldova on its path to European Union membership. The Czech Republic is ready to share its experience with Moldova as a friend, he said.
Moldova and the Czech Republic are united by common values and efforts to ensure a better life for their citizens, Sandu said at a press conference with Pavel, thanking the Czech Republic for its help and support in the development and modernisation of the former Soviet republic, which would like to become an EU member state.
“You are also an example for us,” she said, referring to the Czech Republic’s integration into the EU.
She pointed out that the Czech Republic’s support for Ukraine in the face of the Russian invasion also supported Moldova and a stronger and more stable Europe.
Responding to questions from reporters, Sandu praised cooperation with the Czech Republic in the security sector, including defence against cyber attacks and interference from Russia in domestic politics. She said help in dealing with the energy crisis was the most pressing issue.
Pavel said he believed that after three years of war against Ukraine, Russia was not in a position to set the terms of peace. Peace will be the result of a compromise, not the acceptance of Russian demands, he stated.
The two heads of state also joined a debate with Moldovan secondary school students.
“Moldova’s future depends on what we do now,” Sandu said during the debate with students. She also stressed the importance of independent media and free access to information in fighting disinformation.
“No country should make decisions for others,” said Pavel. The EU is not perfect, but it is the best of the available options, he noted, citing the Czech experience of this community.
Sandu noted how important it was for Moldova and its future that Ukraine would become part of the free world.
Pavel said he believed that Ukraine’s future, like the future of Moldova, would be linked to the EU, as a guarantee of security and prosperity. More investments also mean more security because more countries are interested in maintaining the security of investments, he added in reaction to another question from a student, who then responded with “dekuji” in Czech.
Moldova remains a priority country for the Czech Republic in the area of development and transition cooperation, with annual support ranging from CZK 150-250 million in recent years. At the end of last year, the Czech Republic also made two contributions of CZK 10 million each to Moldova and Transnistria to bridge the energy crisis.
Bilateral trade has been growing steadily and is balanced, doubling over the past four years to around CZK 12.3 billion.
Moldova will hold key parliamentary elections in the autumn. Moldova’s pro-Western government accused Russia of interfering in two key votes last year: the presidential election and referendum on EU entry, including through a large-scale vote-buying scheme. However, the presidential election was eventually won by the pro-EU Sandu.
This month, the European Parliament approved a three-year aid plan that could see Moldova receive up to 1.9 billion euros from the European Union to help implement reforms, strengthen the rule of law, and increase its resilience to external interference, as well as to cope with the negative impact of the war in Ukraine. The reform plan should help bring the post-Soviet country closer to the European Union.
Moldova is one of the countries affected by the abrupt freeze on US foreign aid earlier this year, on the decision of President Donald Trump. Many fear that the halt in the US funds could weaken Washington’s allies and create a vacuum that its enemies could try to fill.
Eastern Europe has long been a geopolitical battleground, where Western foreign policy interests often clash with those of Moscow or Beijing, the AP news agency noted some time ago.
The current visit is reciprocal, as Pavel received President Sandu in Prague in October 2023.
