Romania supports R. of Moldova

With a war at the country’s borders as winter approaches and with the country relying increasingly on electricity imported from Romania, the president of the R. of Moldova Maia Sandu travelled to Bucharest on Tuesday, to ask for the help of the Romanian authorities.

Bucharest promised further support for the neighbouring state in coping with the energy crunch and with the management of the Ukrainian refugees, given that Moldova is the country the most affected by the migration of Ukrainian nationals.

During the political consultations with president Klaus Iohannis, Maia Sandu thanked for the measures taken by Romania to facilitate the provision of electricity, natural gas, firewood and heating oil to Moldovan citizens. The 2 officials also analysed the p[progress of bilateral energy infrastructure interconnection projects.

Klaus Iohannis voiced support for Chişinău’s efforts to reform its energy system in keeping with its commitments to the EU. Moreover, he said Bucharest will continue to support the neighbouring country on its path towards EU integration.

The regional security and energy situation were also the main topic of the Moldovan official’s talks with PM Nicolae Ciucă. Maia Sandu once again thanked Romania for its prompt response related to Moldova’s electricity deficit. Specifically, Romania started providing electricity and natural gas to Moldova in an emergency procedure, after Ukraine suspended energy exports to Chișinău because of the Russian shelling of its power plants.

Maia Sandu also discussed her country’s energy-related difficulties at an international conference on gender equality in politics, held in Bucharest.

Maia Sandu: „I know how hard it is to help others when your own citizens are in difficulty, but these are truly dramatic and decisive times, and we need each other. Because of the war, we are experiencing a major energy crisis, and we risk running out of gas and electricity for this winter. For Moldovan consumers, natural gas tariffs went up 6 times this past year, and they are currently double the prices in Romania. With electricity, things are just as bad. After the Russian Federation bombed Ukraine’s networks, Gazprom cut down to a half the volume of natural gas supplied to Moldova, and the supply of electricity from left of Dniester for the coming month is uncertain. Securing electricity for the country has become a daily challenge.”

Romania is not the only country committed to supporting Moldova. After a meeting of the Nordic Council in Helsinki on Tuesday, Norway (Europe’s biggest natural gas supplier) along with Finland, Sweden and Iceland pledged their support for Ukraine and Moldova with respect to this winter’s natural gas supplies.

(Daniela Budu, Radio Romania International)