Moldovan president says Russia's efforts to destabilize Moldova to fail

Chisinau, 16 May /MOLDPRES/ - Russia’s efforts to destabilize Moldova will fail. President Maia Sandu has made statements to this effect in an editorial published in The Economist publication.  

According to the head of state, the crises can edify or destroy countries. Crises can edify or destroy leaders. ‘’Moldova, just as other countries of Europe, faces many challenges of a scope never seen before, since our country, which borders with Ukraine and Romania, has declared its independence in 1991. The merciless and senseless war of Russia against Ukraine is presumed to make us and other countries yield under pressure. We will not do this. In my capacity of president, it encourages me to see the resilience and perseverance of our people before the interconnected crises: the war in our neighbourhood, Russia’s energy blackmail and the inflation coming from this, the economic recession and the protests orchestrated. Our citizens have remained firm and our partnerships with the friends and allies helped us resist the storm. Moldova becomes stronger. This is a crisis which I think will edify, will not destroy the country and will establish the direction of our way for the next decades,’’ Maia Sandu wrote.   

The head of state noted that she is ‘’proud of the way our country opened the hearts and homes for hundreds of thousands of refugees who flee the brutal attacks from there.’’ ‘’Although nothing is compared to the devastation from Ukraine, the war just near our borders sends us shock waves which affect us too. Russia’s aggression against Ukraine is a military invasion. Its assault against Moldova is hybrid and conceived to destabilize us and force us, just as Ukraine, go back to Russia’s orbit. The strategy did not succeed in Ukraine and will not succeed in Moldova. We maintained the position during more than one year and we will do this in continuation. We fight against this hybrid offensive through the consolidation of our resilience, reforming the institutions and getting ever closer to EU. The energy interconnections with Romania and other European countries helped us resist the gas blackmail, access new energy sources and keep the lights turned on and the homes heated during a difficult winter. We reoriented our exports to new markets and maintained the economy functional. Two thirds of our commerce is with the EU countries. We also boosted the measures for counteracting the misinformation. The law-enforcers disclosed the schemes behind the protests paid, orchestrated by interposed people of Russia, who try to influence from distance and to incite to violence on our streets,’’ the Moldovan president said.      

Maia Sandu reiterated that Moldova’s movement in the direction of accession to EU is irreversible.