President Maia Sandu’s speech at joint press conference with President of the Slovak Republic Peter Pellegrini

Your Excellency, President Pellegrini,

Thank you for your kind invitation. I am pleased to be here in Bratislava.

This year, we celebrate 33 years of diplomatic relations. Three decades of cooperation and mutual respect. And I am glad to say: our partnership is solid.

Today we are taking several new steps. First, we are signing the Social Protection Agreement — an important step for all Moldovan citizens living and working in Slovakia, and Slovak citizens living and working in Moldova. They deserve the same social rights as citizens at home, and this agreement delivers exactly that.

Our investment agencies and chambers of commerce are also signing cooperation agreements today, laying new ground for trade and investment. Our exports to Slovakia rose by over thirty percent last year. That is encouraging — but the potential is far greater, and today's Business Forum is the right platform to unlock it. 

Slovak companies have a real opportunity here, backed by the EU's nearly two-billion-euro Growth Plan for Moldova.

I also want to acknowledge your development agency SlovakAid that has touched lives across Moldova, from energy efficiency in schools to sustainable agriculture. Our citizens have felt this support in tangible ways. Thank you.

And I want to welcome the new Bratislava–Chișinău direct flight, launched in January. We hope it brings Slovak tourists to discover Moldova — our wines, our landscapes, our hospitality. People-to-people ties are the foundation of everything else.

Mr President,

More than twenty years ago, Slovakia took its rightful place in the European Union. Only 15 years after the Velvet Revolution ended communism. 

You know what that meant — and what it took. Hard work, real reform, the courage to change things deeply embedded. And you know the rewards: peace, stability, prosperity — citizens protected by shared European values.

That is precisely what Moldovans want. We want our children to grow up in freedom, in safety, in a country where everyone can realise their potential. We are not asking for favours — we are asking to be judged on our own efforts.

In three years, we have diversified our gas supply — something previous governments didn't dare do in three decades. Most of our exports go to the EU. We are reforming our judiciary, fighting corruption, aligning with EU standards across public life. We deploy peacekeepers and firefighters alongside our partners, contributing to the shared security and stability that Europe depends on.

These efforts speak for themselves. And they matter beyond Moldova's borders. A Moldova anchored in the EU means a more secure Eastern flank. Therefore, enlargement is not charity — it is strategic. Every country that joins the European family makes the whole family stronger. Slovakia knows this.

President Pellegrini, we are grateful for your support for our EU accession and count on your continued partnership.

I cannot stand here today without speaking about Ukraine. Ukraine is fighting a war it did not start, defending its land, its sovereignty, its right to exist within its own internationally recognised borders. That courage has our full admiration and solidarity. 

And for Moldova, Ukraine's resilience is existential — Ukraine stands between us and the aggressor. As long as Ukraine holds firm, Russia is kept away from our borders. Moldova's peace today exists because Ukraine is fighting for it.

But Russia's aggression does not stop at Ukraine's borders. It reaches into Moldova too. By constantly attacking Ukraine's infrastructure, Russia increasingly puts Moldova's security, environment, and public health at risk. 

The bombing of a Ukrainian hydroelectric facility polluted our Nistru River, leaving 300,000 people without safe running water. Just three nights ago, another brutal attack caused our key power line to go offline — a line that at times provides 60 to 70 percent of Moldova's electricity.

In both cases, Slovakia did not stand aside. When the Nistru river was poisoned, Slovakia offered equipment to help us respond. And now that our electricity supply is at risk, Slovakia's grid operator is facilitating cross-border power flows to help keep our lights on. Thank you for this solidarity.

Ukraine’s resilience matters far beyond Ukraine itself. It is essential for Moldova’s security, and for European security more broadly. Every day that Ukraine stands firm helps protect Moldova, strengthens Europe’s security, and defends the principles on which peace on our continent depends.

President Pellegrini, dear partners,

Europe is strongest when united around its values. Moldova may be a small country, but a determined one. We have chosen our path — towards peace, liberty, and prosperity, inside the European family — and we will not be turned away from it.

Thank you for this warm welcome, for this honest dialogue, and for Slovakia's partnership. We leave Bratislava with renewed confidence that we are not walking this path alone.

Ďakujem.