Aid pledged to Moldova, hit hard by war in Ukraine

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron said more than 100 million euros ($102 million) were raised at a donors conference Monday to help assist Europe’s poorest country, Moldova, which is suffering massive blackouts, an acute energy crisis, heavy refugee flows and potential security threats from the war in neighboring Ukraine.

Monday’s international aid conference in Paris was co-chaired by France, Germany and Romania in support of Moldova and aimed to achieve “concrete and immediate assistance” for the land-locked former Soviet republic, according to the French Foreign Ministry. Two previous conferences for Moldova this year also raised hundreds of millions of euros, but as the war drags on and winter begins to grip, the country’s needs are growing.

Broad blackouts temporarily hit more than a halfdozen Moldovan cities last week as the Russian military pounded infrastructure targets across Ukraine.

Moldova’s Soviet-era energy systems remain interconnected with Ukraine, which is why the missile barrage triggered the automatic shutdown of a supply line.

France’s Macron vowed on Monday to continue helping Moldova and said that “fighting for Moldova today is part of the war effort we lead alongside Ukraine.”

Moldova’s pro-western president, Maia Sandu, said Monday that “the pledges announced here today will help us move forward with our reforms, keep social peace, maintain stability and continue contributing to a more stable continent.”

“Moldova remains Ukraine’s most vulnerable neighbor,” Sandu said. “As Ukraine defends itself from Russian attacks it also defends Moldova and defends the whole of Europe ... the international community must do everything to support Ukraine.”

Earlier this month, the European Union pledged 250 million euros (nearly $256 million) to help Moldova after Russia halved its natural gas supply. Moldova’s energy crisis worsened when Transnistria — a Moscow-backed separatist region of Moldova with a key power plant where Russia stations about 1,500 troops — also cut electricity to other parts of the country.

Sharply rising energy costs and skyrocketing inflation are set to put a huge strain on consumers in the country of about 2.6 million as the cold season sets in, a situation that Sandu said could leave many consumers in Moldova “unable to pay their bills ... if the government doesn’t step in.”

“The war is endangering the supply of electricity and gas,” Sandu said. “This could jeopardize our social peace and security.”