{"id":457591,"date":"2026-06-22T17:19:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T15:19:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2026\/06\/22\/secondo-summit-ue-moldavia-von-der-leyen-pronti-altri-528-milioni-per-chisinau-con-riforme\/"},"modified":"2026-06-22T17:53:32","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T15:53:32","slug":"second-eu-moldova-summit-von-der-leyen-a-further-528-million-is-ready-for-chisinau-subject-to-reforms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2026\/06\/22\/second-eu-moldova-summit-von-der-leyen-a-further-528-million-is-ready-for-chisinau-subject-to-reforms\/","title":{"rendered":"Second EU-Moldova Summit. Von der Leyen: \u201cA further 528 million is ready for Chi\u0219in\u0103u, subject to reforms\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels \u2013 \u201cMoldova\u2019s place is in the European Union.\u201d This was emphasised by Ursula von der Leyen<\/strong>, President of the European Commission, during the second summit between the EU and Chi\u0219in\u0103u. Europe \u201cstands with Moldova: for reforms, for opportunities, and for a shared future of peace, freedom, democracy, and prosperity,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The tenant of the Berlaymont Building, the head of the European Council, Ant\u00f3nio Costa<\/strong>, and the Moldovan President, Maia Sandu<\/strong>, met today (22 June) in Brussels for this second official meeting. The meeting comes \u201cjust a week after<\/a> Moldova has reached a historic milestone on its path towards the EU,\u201d Costa noted, \u201cwith the opening of the first cluster of accession negotiations.\u201d Maia Sandu appealed to the Member States, calling for <\/strong><\/span>\u201ca process based on merit<\/strong><\/span>\u201d in what she described as <\/strong><\/span>\u201ca race against time\u201d<\/em> that <\/strong><\/span>\u201cMoldova intends to win<\/strong><\/span>.\u201d Furthermore, the President emphasised her country\u2019s determination to press ahead swiftly towards the EU. \u201cWe are ready to open the remaining clusters\u201d\u2014that is, the chapters of the accession negotiations\u2014\u201cand it is important that this be done as soon as possible, given that this is a process based on merit and the Commission has recommended proceeding in this way,\u201d she noted. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The President of the European Commission described the summit as a concrete step forward on a path already marked by significant achievements. On the economic front, the \u20ac1.9 billion Growth Plan adopted in March 2025<\/strong><\/span>\u2014the largest financial support package ever allocated to Moldova\u2014\u201cis already producing tangible results.\u201d To date, the country has drawn down around \u20ac504 million in three instalments and \u201chas completed 93 per cent of the reforms planned so far,\u201d said von der Leyen. And \u201cif Moldova implements all the planned reforms by the end of this year, a further \u20ac523 million<\/strong> could be released. This will result in better roads and bridges, more efficient healthcare facilities, improved access to finance for businesses and greater opportunities for citizens. A genuine win-win situation for both Moldova and the European Union,\u201d she explained. During the summit, a new \u20ac232.7 million investment was also announced for the rehabilitation of the Porumbrei\u2013Comrat road, funded through the same plan.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Sandu also focused on the results and described the EU as \u201calready a domestic market.\u201d More than half of Moldova\u2019s trade is with Europe, and European investment has grown by almost 30 per cent in four years<\/strong>. Three new agreements were signed during the summit, including a letter of intent linking Moldova\u2019s automotive sector to European industrial value chains. The energy transition was presented as the most symbolic turning point: \u201cFour years ago, Moldova was entirely dependent on Russia as its sole supplier. Today we are free from that dependence, a move that no government had dared to make for three decades,\u201d Sandu emphasised. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

According to the Commission\u2019s data<\/a>, integration into the European Single Market is progressing on several fronts. Since October 2025, Moldova has been part of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), while since January 2026, Moldovan citizens have benefited from free roaming in the EU. In January, the country also joined Creative Europe. The Commission has also announced its intention to extend the DiscoverEU rail pass to young Moldovans starting in 2027 and supports the country\u2019s full participation in the next Erasmus+ programme. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The issue of security was a central focus of the summit. The leaders acknowledged that the country is on the front line when it comes to Russian hybrid attacks. \u201cMoldova\u2019s security is Europe\u2019s security<\/strong><\/span>,\u201d said von der Leyen. In response, the EU announced a new \u20ac11 million package to strengthen resilience against hybrid threats and \u20ac17 million for border infrastructure<\/strong>. Moldova is the second-largest beneficiary of the European Peace Facility, with \u20ac197 million committed to date, and a new package is being prepared for 2026. The leaders reaffirmed the role of the EU Partnership Mission and support through the European Democracy Shield instruments. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In this context, the joint EU\u2013Moldova statement issued at the end of the summit set out in black and white a specific point directed at Moscow. \u201cWe reaffirm our firm support for the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Moldova within its internationally recognised borders<\/strong>. We urge the Russian Federation to honour the commitments it made at the OSCE summit held in Istanbul in 1999, namely to withdraw all its troops and ammunition from the Transnistria region of Moldova,\u201d the text reads. \u201cThe EU commends Moldova\u2019s efforts to maintain peace and stability on both banks of the Nistru River and the measures taken by the Moldovan government to promote the gradual convergence of the two banks. The EU reaffirms its commitment to actively supporting the process of the country\u2019s comprehensive, peaceful, and lasting reintegration.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, Costa highlighted that Moldova is not only a beneficiary of European support but has also become a model for it<\/strong>. \u201cMoldova\u2019s experience in countering hybrid threats has benefited other countries,\u201d he said. \u201cThe EU Partnership Mission on the ground is doing an excellent job of strengthening institutions against foreign interference and has served as a model for the new EU mission in Armenia.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Commission President reiterated that the country\u2019s place \u201cis within the Union\u201d. President Maia Sandu added: \u201cWe are ready to open the remaining negotiation chapters; it is important that this is done as soon as possible\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7911,"featured_media":457564,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard","override":[{"template":"1","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","show_comment_section":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0","subtitle":""},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[30809,25712,25681],"tags":[27175,31262,28074,34533,25745,31965,33394],"class_list":["post-457591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-defence-security","category-general-news","category-politics","tag-commissione-en","tag-moldavia","tag-safety-en","tag-stati-membri-en","tag-ue"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7911"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=457591"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457591\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":457592,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457591\/revisions\/457592"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/457564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=457591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=457591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=457591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}