Remarks by Kaja Kallas at the press conference following the Association Council meeting
Dear Prime Minister, dear Dorin,
It is really a pleasure to welcome you here in Brussels. We just concluded a good meeting of the EU-Moldova Association Council.
The European Union and Moldova are very close partners. You are the first to sign a security and defence partnership with the EU.
We have provided to you nearly €200 million in vital defence aid to support Moldova to modernise its armed forces. And through the EU Growth Plan, we committed €1.9 billion to support your infrastructure and connectivity, among other priorities.
These investments will help to transform Moldova’s economy and benefit every citizen – but this partnership benefits us both. Moldova actively contributes to EU missions in Somalia and Bosnia Herzegovina, and you host more Ukrainian refugees per capita than any other country. This is a powerful testament to your European solidarity.
Today, we discussed Russia’s war against Ukraine, which has repeatedly spilt over into Moldova as well. Russia has violated Moldovan airspace, used energy as a tool to blackmail you, and meddled with your democracy. Moldova’s upcoming parliamentary elections will be a prime target of Moscow’s hybrid war. Russia is likely to use a web of cash, content and coercion to try to tilt the vote. The Moldovan people have the right to choose their own future free from interference.
That is why we are extending the scope and scale of the EU’s Partnership Mission to boost Moldova’s resilience. We have a specialist team on the ground now supporting Moldova address illicit financing around the elections. And we recently deployed a group of experts, a Hybrid Rapid Response Team to support Moldova against foreign interference. You can rely on the EU’s support to ensure the integrity of your elections.
We also discussed Moldova’s EU accession. Moldova has made good progress in a path towards the EU. During my recent vision visit to Chisinau, we spoke about Moldova’s impressive progress in tackling corruption, advancing justice reforms and upholding democratic values. And we discussed today how to take this even further. Sustained reforms now will remain essential to keep the momentum up, and the path is very clear: Moldova belongs to Europe.
Looking ahead, we have the first ever EU-Moldova Summit coming up exactly a month from now, and this Summit will drive the progress across many sectors, from energy to digital and education.
In concrete terms, we are looking to speed up Moldova’s access to EU payment systems, enhance mobile phone services and begin major infrastructure progress. This progress will also improve the lives of all Moldovan citizens.
Prime Minister, thank you again for being here. Time and again, Moldova has shown its dedication to the EU path, and we heard this also today.
Europe will stand with Moldova every step of the way.
Thank you for being here.
Q&A.
Q. You recently returned from Philippines and Singapore, where you said you aim to strengthen the EU-Asia dialogue. What does this mean for Europe security? I am asking this because Europe’s security is also Moldova’s security and Ukraine’s too. And more important, the SAFE Program was recently approved. Moldova’s Defence Minister mentioned it before, that Moldova could join this initiative. Now that the program is adopted, what are the conditions for Moldova’s participation and can Moldova access the same loans under the same conditions as EU Member States? Please give us more details on this.
Thank you. So, I got two questions. On the first [one], the Europe and Asia Security Dialogue. There is a lot of interest on both sides. We are living in this [time of] geopolitical shifts. Therefore, we see that European security is closely interlinked with security also in the Indo Pacific. We mapped with different counterparts, the places where we can cooperate, where we can share information, and we can build on that also further. Just a few examples. One is the maritime security. Developing international law together further, but also developing tools to enhance maritime security. This is in the interest of the European Union, as well as the Indo-Pacific countries. And, then cybersecurity – I think everything is connected to cyber right now, and Asian countries are also very developed in this regard. There are a lot of points of cooperation [on] what we can make better. Of course, the Asian countries are very concerned about the North Korean soldiers being deployed in Ukraine. It shows how interlinked our security theatres really are, and we need to work together to counter those threats.
And then, on your other question on SAFE. As a candidate country, Moldova can benefit from SAFE through joint procurement. So basically, [there are] two possibilities: one is by buying defence equipment together with the EU Member States, or by producing defence equipment for EU Member States, Norway and Ukraine. I just recall that Moldova was the first country to sign a Security and Defence partnership with EU. And Moldova will be able to negotiate specific terms, but yes, those tools give also possibility for Moldova to participate.
