Madam
President, dear Roberta Metsola,
Honorable Members of the European Parliament,
Thank you for this invitation. It is a great honor to speak on behalf of
Moldova’s people in this house of democracy. Today, I would like to focus on the
growing threats to our democracies, and how we defend them together. Because no
one can be defended alone. I will do so through the story of Moldova. Because
our stability is your stability. And our peace is Europe’s peace.
On 28 of September 2025, Moldova will hold the most consequential election in
its history. Its outcome will decide whether we consolidate as a stable
democracy on the path to EU membership -- a safe neighbor to Ukraine and a
security provider to the Union -- or whether Russia destabilizes us, pulls us
away from Europe, and turns us into a threat on Ukraine’s southwestern border
and Europe’s eastern frontier.
Ladies
and gentlemen,
Before I begin, let us recall one truth: Most of your democracies were not
complete when you joined this Union. You fought dictatorships. Overcame economic
hardships. And not one of you did it alone. Every democracy in this chamber was
built, supported, and protected -- with the help of others.
Germany and France -- devastated by war -- chose reconciliation. With Italy,
Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg, they laid Europe’s foundation: fragile
at first, but together strong. When Ireland joined, solidarity transformed it.
Denmark showed that even established democracies chose the Union to secure their
future.
Then came Southern Europe: Greece, Spain, Portugal -- less than a decade after
dictatorship. Their democracies were sheltered and consolidated inside the
Union. Austria, Finland, and Sweden followed. Neutral countries, they reinforced
their own security -- and Europe’s.
Then came the great enlargement of Central and Eastern Europe: Czechia, Estonia,
Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, barely 15 years after
communism, they grew stronger and more prosperous inside the EU.
Cyprus and Malta also entered -- proof that no democracy is too small to matter.
Romania and Bulgaria followed -- less than two decades after shaking off their
Socialist past. Still with much to build at the time, accession gave them
stability and the space to grow. Croatia, scarred by war, found peace and
security in this family.
And today, Moldova, Ukraine, and the Western Balkans stand at the gates --
living proof that the European project is thriving; still expanding, still
protecting.
Both Moldova and Ukraine are ready to advance to the next stage of negotiations
in a merit-based process that reflects our progress. And both our democracies
will be safer once we are inside the Union.
That is why I say: This Union was never about perfection. It was about
protection -- of fragile democracies until they grew strong. And it should
remain so today. Because democracy does not come automatically. It comes after
hardship. After sacrifice. And above all, with support from friends. That is
Moldova’s lesson. And it is also Moldova’s warning: If our democracy cannot be
protected, then no democracy in Europe is safe.
Honorable
Members,
Last month, we celebrated 34 years of independence. In the past three decades,
Moldova built and preserved a living democracy. Fragile, yes. But enduring.
We survived:
a Russian backed separatist conflict,
an economic collapse,
energy blackmail,
trade embargoes,
even a banking fraud that shook the very foundations of our state.
Each crisis could have broken us. But democracy resisted.
When democracy was in danger -- people protested. When oligarchs tried to
capture the state -- we resisted. And when power changed -- it changed
peacefully, at the ballot box. Unlike in some other places across the former
Soviet Union, Moldova did not become an autocracy. We preserved pluralism. We
protected free elections. We remained faithful to who we are: Europeans.
For the past two decades, the European Union -- together with the United States
-- has been our steadfast partner. Helping us reform, modernize and build
institutions strong enough to resist pressure. Giving Moldovans hope that our
place was -- and is -- in Europe.
Then came the 24th of February 2022. When Russia launched a full-scale invasion
of Ukraine, we knew we could not wait. We needed safety. And we understood that
the sooner we are inside the European Union--a peace project that has never seen
war between its members--the safer our democracy and our people will be.
That is why we applied for accession just days after Russian tanks rolled into
our neighborhood. We have obtained candidate status and opened accession talks.
We are not asking for shortcuts. We are doing our homework diligently. But for
us, accession is not just a technocratic process. It is a race against time --
to anchor our democracy inside the Union, where it will be protected from the
greatest threat we face: Russia.
Ladies
and gentlemen,
Moldova cannot escape its geography. We feel the long arm of Russian aggression.
We share a 1,200 km border with Ukraine -- longer than any of your countries.
And the reason Moldova still enjoys peace today is because Ukraine stands.
Ukrainians are fighting to defend their country and their freedom. And they also
shield Moldova. We owe our peace to them.
But their sacrifice is also a reminder: peace is never guaranteed. That is why
our European path is not just a matter of values -- it is a matter of survival.
And precisely because we have advanced greatly on this path, Russia has
unleashed its full arsenal of hybrid attacks against us. The battlefield is our
elections.
Last year, during the presidential poll and the referendum to anchor EU
accession in our Constitution, interference was unprecedented. But democracy
prevailed. Moldovans stood their ground -- and through their authentic vote,
they defeated Kremlin’s political fronts. Our institutions stood with them:
alert, determined, resilient. Now the next battle is upon us -- the
parliamentary elections at the end of this month.
Ladies
and gentlemen,
We have resisted many pressures from Moscow in the past. Our independence was
hard-won -- through economic and political hardships, and a Russia-backed
conflict on our soil. And whenever we exercised our free choice for real, Moscow
struck back: cutting gas, banning our wine and fruit, stirring the Transnistrian
region. But today we face an unlimited hybrid war -- on a scale unseen before
the full invasion of Ukraine.
The Kremlin’s goal is clear: to capture Moldova through the ballot box, to use
it against Ukraine, and to turn us into a launchpad for hybrid attacks on the
European Union. That is why this election is very important. By defending it, we
protect not only Moldova -- but also regional security and stability.
Ladies
and gentlemen,
interference does not begin and end on election day. It starts months before,
and lingers long after. Like a virus, it finds the cracks -- and attacks. We had
barely recovered from Russia’s interference last year when, in January, we were
plunged into a manufactured energy crisis -- designed to raise prices, leave the
Transnistrian region in cold and darkness, and divide citizens on both banks of
the Nistru.
Then came the money. Illicit financing poured in through crypto, shell
companies, prepaid cards. Last year, in a single day over one million euros in
cash was intercepted at Chișinău airport. And our institutions estimate that,
over the course of the year, Russia spent the equivalent of 1% of Moldova’s GDP,
to influence the 2024 elections.
Today, new money bankrolls Kremlin-backed parties, buys influence, poisons
democracy. Last year it went further -- into something our democracy had never
faced before: a vote-buying scheme. A sanctioned Russian bank opened 138,000
accounts to sway results with direct payments. It is not something we are proud
of, but it shows how Russia identifies vulnerabilities -- and exploits them.
This is democracy itself turned into a target.
Russian proxies also fund protests -- orchestrated on Telegram, with transport
arranged and people lured by promises of thousands of euros.
Lies spread. Fake emails in the names of state institutions. Deepfakes of
politicians. Fabricated “international” sites posing as impartial news but
serving Kremlin propaganda.
And on social media, a Romanian think tank found that just one hundred
coordinated accounts pushed videos with 13 million views in a single month.
Their comments -- thousands of copy-paste lines -- reveal manipulation, not
genuine debate.Cyberattacks hit government services. Last year, the postal
service was struck -- because it delivers pensions where banks cannot. Phishing
campaigns target officials. Religion is weaponised. Criminal groups are
recruited for sabotage and intimidation. A judge ruling recently on political
corruption received death threats.
Our diaspora is targeted with online campaigns to divide families abroad and at
home. Last year, fourteen polling stations across EU countries received false
bomb threats to disrupt the vote.
In Gagauzia, false claims spread that autonomy is under threat. In the
Transnistrian region, calls for more polling stations are nothing more than a
tactic to fabricate turnout well beyond real voter levels. All this is happening
now. It is coordinated so as to overwhelm our institutions and stretch limited
resources. It is financed with hundreds of millions in dirty money. And
amplified by propaganda.
It is made more dangerous by three features:
– It constantly changes: New money channels, new tricks, new narratives for
disinformation.
– It is digital: payments on Telegram, lies on TikTok, deepfakes on Facebook and
Instagram. More than 80% of toxic content on TikTok is AI-generated.
– And it exploits democracy itself: Freedom of religion turned into propaganda,
freedom of assembly into paid protests, freedom of association into instant
Kremlin-backed parties, and free capital flows into illicit money in politics.
This is not only Moldova’s story. Crypto schemes tested in Chișinău now help
evade EU sanctions and fund Russia’s war machine. Vote-buying schemes tried in
Moldova have surfaced elsewhere. False bomb threats, first seen in our
elections, have already disrupted elections in other countries.
Moldova may be the testing ground. But Europe is the target.
Honorable
Members,
This brings me to the heart of today’s challenge: defending our democracies --
with teeth, and together.
The threats we face are faster, sharper, less visible. If the threats are new,
our responses must be new. Too often, we face 21st-century dangers with tools
designed for peacetime. Yet war has returned to Europe. And we -- Europe -- must
rethink how we defend our democracies.
The Cold War offers lessons. Fragile democracies were shielded by economic
resilience -- the Marshall Plan rebuilt shattered economies. They were defended
in an ideological fight -- Radio Free Europe exposed dictatorship’s poverty and
repression. And they survived because citizens knew: freedom was not given, it
was safeguarded.
That is the spirit we need today. And Moldova knows this not from theory but
from experience. On the frontlines of democracy, we have learned what works --
and what fails.
These are our lessons.
First: Cut off illicit financing and protect elections.
Dirty money is the lifeblood of foreign malign influence. Unless we cut it,
every other defence is undermined. Especially elections must be shielded from
it. Election observation must go beyond polling stations: follow the money,
track information manipulation across platforms, expose covert influence.
Second: Build resilience.
Resilience means energy security, interconnected infrastructure, and market
integration so that no democracy can be blackmailed. But resilience also means
democracy that delivers: jobs, justice, opportunities.
Third: Engage citizens and win the ideological fight.
Even when democracy delivers, we must involve people directly -- with clear
information, free media, open debate, while exposing autocracies for what they
are: war, corruption, and destruction.
Fourth: Strengthen deterrence and coordination.
Aggression must be made too costly -- with stronger defences, intelligence, and
cyber capabilities. But also with stronger coordination. Hybrid threats exploit
weak links; Europe must join forces and act faster.
Fifth: Integrate and innovate.
Candidate countries must be part of the defence of democracy. No one is safe
until everyone is safe. And just as the Marshall Plan and Radio Free Europe were
created then, today we need new tools -- rapid digital forensics, AI-labelling,
joint cyber defence, new ways to engage citizens.
That is how Europe has endured -- by adapting, rebuilding, turning fragility
into strength. By protecting fragile democracies until they grow strong. The
only way forward is to defend our democracies with teeth -- and to defend them
together.
Honorable
Members,
Moldova is not alone in protecting its democracy. The European Union has stood
with us -- financially, technically, and politically. And we are deeply
grateful. This solidarity strengthens our ability to protect democracy at home,
while also allowing us to contribute to Europe’s common security. At the same
time, Moldova has gained hard experience in countering hybrid threats. And we
are ready to share it. Because Moldova already thinks like a member, acts like a
member -- and that, too, is part of Europe’s security.
Ladies
and gentlemen,
Allow me now, from this house of European democracy, to turn to my own people --
on the eve of a decisive choice.
[Delivered in Romanian] Dragi cetățeni,
Să fim mândri că am construit o democrație vie și am păstrat-o timp de trei
decenii -- chiar și atunci când unii au vrut să o distrugă. Am trecut prin multe
încercări și am rezistat. Și de fiecare dată am ieșit mai puternici.
Astăzi, însă, independența și pacea noastră sunt din nou puse la încercare.
Ingerințe în alegerile noastre, finanțări ilegale din afară, campanii de
minciuni, atacuri cibernetice, proteste plătite, tactici de a semăna ură între
oameni. Acestea sunt metodele prin care se încearcă oprirea Moldovei din drumul
ei european.
Depinde de noi dacă aceste presiuni vor reuși să ne oprească sau, dimpotrivă,
ne vor face mai uniți și mai hotărâți. Anul trecut, am arătat lumii întregi că
putem sta drepți, prin vot, în fața unor forțe mult mai mari.
Acum trebuie să facem pasul decisiv: să alegem un Parlament care să ducă Moldova
în Uniunea Europeană. Aceasta este responsabilitatea noastră. Viitorul Moldovei
depinde de curajul și unitatea cu care vom merge la vot.1
Honorable
Members,
I thank you for giving me the chance to speak to you today -- and for standing
with Moldova on our European path.
1
Romanian to English translation via DeepL:
"Dear citizens,
Let us be proud that we have built a vibrant democracy and preserved it for
three decades -- even when some wanted to destroy it. We have endured many
trials and tribulations, and we have persevered. Each time, we have emerged
stronger.
Today, however, our independence and peace are once again being tested.
Interference in our elections, illegal funding from abroad, campaigns of lies,
cyber attacks, paid protests, tactics to sow hatred among people. These are the
methods used to try to stop Moldova on its European path.
It is up to us whether these pressures will succeed in stopping us or, on the
contrary, will make us more united and determined. Last year, we showed the
whole world that we can stand tall, through voting, in the face of much greater
forces.
Now we must take the decisive step: to elect a Parliament that will lead Moldova
into the European Union. This is our responsibility. Moldova's future depends on
the courage and unity with which we go to the polls."
Original Text Source: presedinte.md
Original Audio and Video Source:
Here
Audio Note: AR-XE = American Rhetoric Extreme Enhancement
