Prime Minister meets political leadership of Moldova: solidarity with Moldova is now needed more than ever
On 25 November, Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė, who is on a working visit to Moldova, met with Prime Minister Natalia Gavriliţa, President Maia Sandu and Speaker of the Parliament Igor Gross. Prime Minister, who expressed solidarity with Moldova, which is particularly affected by the Russian war in neighbouring Ukraine, discussed the security situation in Moldova and the region, the situation in the country's energy sector, the progress of Moldova's reforms and Lithuania's further assistance to the country on its path towards the EU membership, the challenges of hosting refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine as well as other relevant issues of bilateral cooperation.
“Russia's indiscriminate and brutal attacks on Ukraine, which are on the rise as the Russian army is clearly losing on the battlefield, are posing major challenges to the Moldovan people and the country's leadership. In spite of these challenges, Moldova's solidarity in welcoming war refugees, its principled stance in condemning war crimes in its neighbourhood, deserves great respect and the difficulties it is experiencing deserve assistance. Lithuania will continue supporting Moldova on the Euro-integration path chosen by its people and will contribute to the implementation of the necessary reforms with its expertise”, said Prime Minister Šimonytė.
According to Prime Minister, bilateral diplomatic relations between Lithuania and Moldova, marking 30 years anniversary this year, are excellent and reflect the great mutual understanding in many areas.
At the meeting between the Heads of Government, Ms Šimonytė and Mrs Gavriliţa discussed the security situation in Moldova, the country's efforts to ensure energy security and supply stability in the country, as Russian missile strikes in Ukraine cause damage to the regional infrastructure, while experiencing blackmail by Gazprom over gas supplies.
Prime Minister Šimonytė noted the Moldovan government's responsible approach to national security policy and welcomed the country's decisions to modernise and strengthen its defence capabilities. In this process Moldova will receive assistance from Lithuania, which will contribute to the enhancement of the country's strategic communications and cyber security capabilities as well as modernisation of the non-commissioned officer corps.
During Friday's meetings, Prime Minister expressed her support for the Moldovan Government's commitment to carry out the reforms aimed at bringing Moldova closer to the European Union.
“Lithuania knows from its own experience that the implementation of the reforms is still a challenging task, but it will undoubtedly strengthen the country and its institutions. I believe that the EU candidate status granted to Moldova this year is an incentive to implement the reform agenda, and that the current Moldovan leadership is capable of and will succeed in achieving the goals laid down,” Prime Minister said.
The meetings also focused on the situation in Transnistria, the challenges of hosting Ukrainian war refugees (Moldova has welcomed the most refugees per capita), and the importance of building resilience to hostile disinformation aimed at fostering distrust in democratic institutions and dividing the public.
On her working visit to Moldova, Prime Minister is accompanied by the Minister of Energy, Dainius Kreivys.
This is the second visit of Prime Minister Šimonytė to Moldova. She paid an official visit to Chisinau in December 2021.