Moldova – Participation of the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs in the Moldova Support Conference (05 Apr. 2022)
In Berlin today, the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs is attending the Moldova Support Platform donors’ conference, co-chaired by France, Germany and Romania.
With Moldova facing unprecedented challenges due to Russia’s war in Ukraine, the Moldova Support Platform aims to provide coordinated responses to the needs expressed by the Moldovan authorities by bringing together States, financial institutions and international organizations that can offer help.
France and Italy are co-chairing the meeting of the energy working group. Group discussions will help to better assess what Moldova must do to strengthen energy security in the long term and to determine the resources that can be allocated to provide it with swift and concrete assistance.
France’s bilateral financial commitments to Moldova, which were announced at the donors’ conference, amount to €126 million.
With regard to humanitarian assistance, France is supplying Moldova with 37 tons of emergency supplies to welcome refugees fleeing the conflict in Ukraine, as well as nearly 10,000 hygiene kits, under the auspices of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.
In the energy sector, France is supplying Moldova with 17 generators to increase the reliability of Moldova’s electricity supply for healthcare providers. This aid is being delivered with support from FASECO, the fund established to help local French authorities finance humanitarian aid.
With regard to economic support, France will soon release a €15 million bilateral budgetary aid package for Moldova. This package is in addition to aid from the EU and will help Moldova deal with the economic repercussions of the conflict in Ukraine.
The French Development Agency will continue its efforts to assist Moldova. In addition to current projects to update the country’s rail network and connect the Moldovan electrical grid to the European grid, discussions are under way regarding a budgetary loan to boost energy security.
Lastly, with regard to border security and refugee support, France is contributing to the deployment of FRONTEX in Moldova by dispatching border police who will work with European contingents and the Moldovan authorities to carry out operational missions. France will also contribute to the European solidarity effort in support of refugees and, in the coming days, will carry out the first operation to relocate refugees who are currently in Moldova to France.