Press statements by President Maia Sandu in Helsinki

President Stubb, dear Alexander,

Thank you for the warm welcome and for our conversation today. We discussed our bilateral ties, European security, the war in Ukraine and Moldova's path to EU membership.

Our political dialogue is solid. We have much to learn from Finland: your comprehensive security model, your civil preparedness, and the calm that comes from being ready. 

That is why I have proposed a structured Moldova–Finland dialogue on resilience. We also want to join Finland and other countries working to bring the most advanced artificial intelligence models under human control.

Our partnership is rooted in shared experience. Finland knows from its own history what it means to stand up to an aggressor, defend your identity and choose where you belong. That gives our relationship real depth.

And it’s great to be in Helsinki, which holds a special place in the history of enlargement. Here, in December 1999, EU leaders decided to open accession negotiations with six countries, including our neighbour Romania. They set the principle that still guides the process: each candidate is judged on its own merits. Within a few years, those countries were members, and Europe was safer and stronger for it.

We ask Europe for the same determination today. This year Moldova formally began accession negotiations. We are reforming and meeting every condition on merit. We count on Finland's support to take the next steps this autumn. 

Our citizens chose this path again and again, in a referendum and in national elections, under enormous pressure. Last year Russia spent close to 2% of our GDP to interfere in our parliamentary elections. On election day alone, our Central Electoral Commission faced close to a billion malicious requests in a cyberattack meant to take our electoral systems down. Our institutions held, and Moldovans answered with their votes. 

That choice matters well beyond our borders. Moldovans kept Russia's proxies out of power, and with them the Kremlin's plan to use our country against Ukraine and the EU. Instead, we remain a stable, friendly neighbour, keeping transport routes open for Ukrainian trade, helping Ukrainians fleeing the war and supporting accountability for Russia's crimes. 

And here I would like to thank you, Mr President, for Finland's steadfast military, political and financial support to Ukraine, and for your leadership in the Coalition of the Willing, which Moldova has also joined recently. Ultimately, Ukraine's resistance is what protects Moldova’s peace.

Even so, the war is reaching our territory. This year Russian drones have entered our airspace more than 45 times, eight of them in the past week. Last month, Russia deliberately hit Ukraine's border crossings with Moldova, killing two people. Earlier this year, an attack on a Ukrainian dam polluted the Nistru river, our main source of drinking water. Russia uses drones and lies to intimidate us into abandoning Ukraine and our European choice.

Our answer is to grow stronger. We are investing in air defence, modernising our army and raising defence spending. We are building capacity to counter information manipulation and cyberattacks, and to protect our elections. 

Energy is where we have come furthest. We went from 100% dependence on Russian gas to zero, and by the end of this year renewables will make up 30% of our installed electricity capacity. That has taken away Russia's strongest lever against us. But with the Strait of Hormuz closed, energy prices are high again, and our citizens face another hard winter.

What keeps us going through energy shocks, a war next door and a strained economy is our determination to join the EU, a union where countries stand by and protect each other. Finland made this choice in 1995, to anchor its freedom and security in a community of democracies. We are making the same choice today, for the same reasons.

Mr President,

Finland knows what it takes to secure a long border on Europe's eastern edge. Moldova's 1,200 kilometres along Ukraine are part of that same edge. Our accession strengthens the security of both Ukraine and the EU. A European Moldova secures Ukraine's south-western flank and anchors stability on the EU's eastern border. A Moldova under Kremlin control would leave Ukraine more exposed.

So Moldova's resilience matters for all of Europe, and it depends on progress towards the EU. Each step forward shows our citizens that their choice delivers. Each delay feeds the Kremlin's message that Europe's door will stay closed. Our society has held firm under constant pressure since 2022. To keep holding, people need to see us moving forward.

Enlargement is one of the smartest security investments Europe can make. As you said at the United Nations, Mr President, small nations need cooperation to survive. For Moldova, that cooperation is EU membership.

Dear Alexander,

I have learned that Finnish has a word, sisu, for the quiet determination that carries you through hard times. Moldovans have shown their own version of it. We are a small country doing serious work under serious pressure, for a future that is safe, democratic and European. It means a great deal that Finland is on this road with us. 



Thank you.