Moldova to work out National Resilience Plan

The Republic of Moldova will set up a National Resilience Plan to strengthen state institutions' capabilities in combating hybrid attacks. President Maia Sandu made the statement today. She participated in Moldova Security Forum held today in Chișinău.

Maia Sandu emphasized that the plan will cover aspects such as disinformation, cybersecurity, justice, and anti-corruption, and Chișinău authorities will seek support from external partners for its implementation.


'We are drafting resilience plans based on our experiences in recent years during elections, and we will adopt this National Resilience Plan, covering all pillars, starting with disinformation, cybersecurity, justice, and anti-corruption. Learning from this experience, we will work on these issues. Additionally, we will seek the help of our partners for implementing this plan,' stated Maia Sandu.


The head of state pointed out that the most challenging aspect is related to online disinformation and stressed that it is necessary for democratic countries to come up with common solutions in this regard.


'The most difficult part is what we do with online disinformation, where Moldova lacks the capacity, and even if Moldova wants to try to do something, it might be perceived as undemocratic. We need countries like those in the EU to develop policies that Moldova can adopt regarding inauthentic accounts, disinformation that has been funded, accounts funded by Russia, which have been extremely dangerous for our democracy. These are the issues where the democratic world needs to come together with us to develop solutions. We can participate in discussions, but we will not be able to handle these matters alone,' explained the president.


Maia Sandu stated that during the latest electoral exercises organized in the Republic of Moldova, Russia attempted to influence the election results through vote-buying and disinformation, causing citizens to lose trust in state institutions and politicians.


'What Russia is doing today can be very damaging not only concerning a politician but also concerning the country. (...) Hybrid attacks in Moldova by Russia are multidimensional and include all sorts of things. The most damaging element we discovered practically last year was the vote-buying scheme, and I think this time we were the most effective, and our institutions performed miracles and will continue to monitor it because vote-buying can be damaging to democracy in the long term. (...) The newest element that truly made a change was the fact that state institutions functioned this time,' noted President Sandu.


The head of state stated that there were even attempts to organize violent activities. 'If we try to briefly describe Russia's strategy in Moldova, I would say disinformation is the main part of this strategy. Russia wants people not to trust institutions or lines. Russia tries to scare Moldovans with war, and to make things more credible, they tried to organize violent activities,' communicated the head of state.

Maia Sandu added that Russia used large sums of money to influence the election results.


'Russia's money has always been a problem for the Republic of Moldova in elections because the Kremlin always finances some political parties even if it's not legal, but the money wasn't as large as it is now. Previously, it was about 30 million euros. In the latest elections, we're talking about 300 million euros, Russian money that was pumped to intervene in elections. Russia used cryptocurrency and different channels to bring money into the country to finance the political parties' campaigns, to finance all activities and all the things they have done,' Maia Sandu emphasized.


Today, the second edition of the Moldova Security Forum is organized in Chișinău. The event brings together officials from the Republic of Moldova and partner states, representatives of NATO and the European Union, experts, members of civil society, and the academic environment. During the event, participants are to analyze emerging risks, identify current vulnerabilities, and formulate common solutions and strategic responses to strengthen national and regional resilience.