Moldova is preparing to host, on Thursday 1 June, the second summit of the heads of state or government of the countries making up the ‘European Political Community’ (EPC), an informal forum launched on the basis of a French idea in May 2022 after the Russian aggression in Ukraine, to discuss geopolitical issues in Europe in the broadest sense.
This summit, which will not result in any written declaration, will be symbolic above all for its location, at Château Mimi, a wine estate in the village of Bulboaca, 20 km from the border with Ukraine and even closer to Tiraspol, the capital of Transnistria, a pro-Russian separatist region.
The whole of Europe is coming to Bulboaca to discuss security, energy and a better-connected, more prosperous Europe”, the President of Moldova, Maia Sandu, told the press on the afternoon of Wednesday 31 May. She assured that any attempt to disrupt the summit, whether by cutting off electricity (which comes from Transnistria, editor's note) or by violating Moldovan airspace, would be in vain.
While forty-four leaders attended the inaugural meeting of the EPC in Prague in October 2022 (see EUROPE 13037/1), the leaders of Monaco and Andorra will be present for the first time, but not San Marino, which was initially approached.
Speaking to the press, the Moldovan Foreign Minister, Nicu Popescu, compared the EPC to “a European-style UNGA”, in reference to the UN General Assembly held each year in September. He did not want to draw up an exhaustive list of participants, in particular because the presence of the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, had not been confirmed. But perhaps also because a possible visit by the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, has not been totally ruled out.
According to one European source, the EPC is more concerned with “geopolitical issues”, whereas the Council of Europe is more focused on values. “What is important is the message sent by these leaders who visit this part of Europe, which is sometimes wrongly forgotten”, the source added on Tuesday 30 May.
This summit, organised so close to the war in Ukraine, will be an opportunity for the participants to send out a strong symbolic message of unity against Russia through the family photo, despite the different sensitivities around the table.
A number of leaders have issued statements via Twitter ahead of the EPC summit. Among them, the Swedish Prime Minister, Ulf Kristersson, whose country holds the six-month rotating presidency of the EU Council, is convinced that “the EPC sends a clear message: Europe stands united in defence of our shared values of freedom, democracy and human dignity”.
From Bratislava, French President Emmanuel Macron urged Europe in the broadest sense to become an “actor” in strategic developments in its environment, to emerge from its “state of political minority” and to “create a genuine strategic intimacy” within the EPC.
“Our country is in a dangerous place in a dangerous time”, said Mr Popescu, describing the holding of the summit in his country as “crucial”. This diplomatic event, the largest ever organised in the country, poses a real security challenge for Moldova. In particular, the Moldovan minister listed Russia’s “hostile” attempts to destabilise his country, including disinformation, cyber-attacks, the funding of political parties hostile to European integration and energy blackmail. Despite this, he noted, Moldova remains “a safe place” for the time being, because the vast majority of Moldovans, whatever their political persuasion, want to live in peace and democracy.
At Thursday’s summit, four separate round tables will be held on the following themes: two workshops will focus on security, including aspects relating to cyber security and critical infrastructure protection, and two others will be devoted to energy and connectivity.
Time will then be devoted to bilateral meetings. A meeting between the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders, in the presence of the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, will attempt to move forward the peace talks in the Caucasus.
At the next EPC summits, European leaders will discuss mobility issues, particularly youth mobility, in Granada in October, followed by migration in London in the first half of 2024.
Moldova is not alone
As well as sending a message to Russia, the EPC summit will also send a message of solidarity and encouragement to Moldova, which has officially become a candidate for membership of the European Union in June 2022 at the same time as Ukraine (see EUROPE 12978/1). At the end of May, 100,000 Moldovans demonstrated in Chișinău in favour of their country joining the European Union.
“The presence of the leaders is a message that Moldova is not alone, neither is our neighbour Ukraine”, said Ms Sandu. “Our generation’s mission is to bring Moldova into the EU”, she added. She said that the country’s authorities were doing their utmost on a daily basis to fulfil the EU’s nine recommendations, particularly in terms of fighting corruption and strengthening the justice system.
Alongside her, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, welcomed the fact that the “political heart of Europe” was beating this week in Moldova, a country which, she said, embodied the fundamental values of Europe: solidarity with Ukrainian refugees, resilience in the face of “Russian blackmail” and unity in its European aspirations. She praised the “good progress” that Moldova has already made in responding to the recommendations addressed to it. The EU delegation in the country will be strengthened to help the country build up its administrative capacity, she announced.
This Thursday, there will be “no formal discussion “ on the accession of Moldova and Ukraine to the EU, even though this issue is “on everyone’s mind”, a French diplomatic source warned last Friday.
The Moldovan government hopes that its country will be in a position to officially join the EU by 2030. Despite the difficulties associated with the massive influx of Ukrainian refugees (90,000 people settled in Moldova for a country of 3.3 million inhabitants) and the economic crisis marked by record inflation, it is pursuing reforms to convince the European Commission and the EU countries to officially open accession negotiations next December.
Mr Popescu also spoke of the State taking back into its hands concessions granted to oligarchs convicted by the courts, such as the management of the airport. In his view, the EU integration process gives his country a few years to resolve the Transnistria issue by convincing the inhabitants and businesses of the breakaway territory of the benefits of free movement within the EU and market access.
In the meantime, the European Union is already providing Moldova with substantial economic, financial and political support.
On Wednesday, Moldovan and EU mobile phone operators committed to affordable roaming charges for citizens and businesses (see the declaration: https://aeur.eu/f/755 ).
Ms von der Leyen also unveiled a new economic support package. In particular, investment in Moldova will be tripled to €1.6 billion and €50 million will be granted to renovate the Moldovan rail network. Energy measures will make it possible, in the short term, to support vulnerable populations, and in the longer term, to better interconnect Moldova with the European electricity network. Via the European joint purchasing platform, Chișinău has secured 80% of its gas needs, Ms von der Leyen was also pleased to announce.
Moldova is participating as well in the ‘Connecting Europe Facility’, which is helping it to invest in road, energy and digital infrastructure. Since July 2022, it has benefited from easier access to the European market (see EUROPE 13173/24), particularly in the form of quotas for its agricultural products. And to restore its balance of payments, it is receiving macro-financial assistance totalling €295 million (see EUROPE 13190/27).
On the political front, the Council of the EU decided on Tuesday to sanction several personalities, including the leader of the Șor political party and businessman Ilan Shor, responsible for actions threatening Moldova’s sovereignty (see EUROPE 13191/2). On Wednesday, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, also took part in the inauguration of the EU Partnership Mission in Moldova (EUPM Moldova) under the Common Security and Defence Policy (see EUROPE 13191/1). (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion with Camille-Cerise Gessant)