EU announces energy support package for Moldova

EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday announced a new support package for Moldova, as the impact of war in neighboring Ukraine has sent energy prices skyrocketing. 

At press conference in Moldova next to Moldovan President Maia Sandu, Von der Leyen said the measure would give Moldova "much needed support as it goes through the winter."

"Only together, in solidarity, will we be able to survive the coming winter and preserve our freedom and a peaceful and democratic
future,'' Sandu said. 

Von der Leyen said the package would include €200 million for energy security, half of which would be provided in grants and the other half in loans. The package would also include €50 million in budgetary support.

The Commission chief added that the EU would mobilize more international donations via the Moldova Support Platform, which is due to meet in Paris on November 21.

Russia to blame for Moldova's energy woes

Moldova is dependent on Russia for natural gas, however, deliveries by Russian energy giant Gazprom were reduced by half in November, according to Chisinau. Electricity supplies from Ukraine have also been cut as Russia targets energy infrastructure. 

"We are facing the worst energy crisis in three decades,'' Sandu said Thursday. "A crisis in which energy resources are being used as
weapons against democracy."

Von der Leyen has said also said Russia is "weaponizing" energy in response to opposition of Moscow's war in Ukraine. 

Even before the war in Ukraine, Moldovans have struggled with a dire economic situation, with gas prices skyrocketing over the last 12 months. Anti-government protests have been a recurring scene, with many blaming the pro-Western government for the country's sinking economy.

Sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine, Moldova is one of Europe's poorest countries and, like Ukraine, has been politically divided between pro-Russian and pro-Western factions. The country's economy had been already struggling before the war struck it a further blow.

Moldova lies on the southwestern border of Ukraine. Hundreds of thousands of refugees from the war-struck country have crossed through Moldova as they attempted to flee the fighting.

Some 80,000 Ukrainian refugees are currently hosted by Moldova, von der Leyen said. 

"You opened your arms. You opened your doors to the people fleeing the war," von der Leyen said. She reassured that Moldova's solidarity with Ukraine was paralleled by the "unshakable" European solidarity with Moldova.

In the early months of Russia's war in Ukraine there were fears of a spillover of the war into Moldova, should Moscow attempt to forge a land corridor to the region through southern Ukraine.

Moldova is currently a candidate country to the EU. However, it will be an uphill climb toward new membership, which is 
conditional on a series of reforms in areas such as tackling corruption, organized crime and strengthening human rights and the
rule of law.

rmt/wmr (AFP, AP)