“Independence is not guaranteed: it depends on the choices we make,” Sandu told the same news conference, warning of risks from “illegal foreign financing, disinformation, cyber-attacks, paid protests”.
Germany would do everything possible to get Moldova in a position to open the first chapter of EU accession negotiations in the autumn, Merz said.
“We will send experts to support reforms,” he added. “German and European money is helping secure energy supplies and boosting small and medium companies.”
Polls suggest a hard-fought race between Sandu’s Party of Action and Solidarity and the pro-Russian bloc of Communist and Socialist parties.
Once heavily dependent on Russia for energy and export markets, Moldova has reoriented its economy towards Romania and the EU since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war.
“Kremlin propaganda says the Europeans want to prolong the war and that the European Union oppresses people,” said Macron.
“These are lies.”
Tusk echoed that sentiment, saying there was “no safe EU, no safe Poland, no safe France or Germany without an independent and safe Moldova.”