Estonian formin: Moldova's fall parlt elections critical to Moldova's future

TALLINN – Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna met with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Moldova Mihai Popșoi on the margins of the Lennart Meri Conference on Saturday, noting that Moldova’s fall parliamentary elections are critical to Moldova’s future.

The meeting focused on Moldova’s progress in joining the European Union, the fight against Russian influence activities and the parliamentary elections in Moldova this fall. The ministers also discussed opportunities for strengthening co-operation between Estonia and Moldova, spokespeople for the Foreign Ministry said.

At the meeting, Tsahkna reaffirmed Estonia’s continued support.

"The upcoming parliamentary elections will not only be decisive for Moldova’s future, but will have significance for the whole of Europe," Tsahkna told Popșoi. "The strong Russian influence activities seen in the fall elections last year, aimed at manipulating the election results in Russia’s favor, failed and Estonia supports Moldova in every possible way, so that the results of the parliamentary elections this fall would not be influenced by external actors."

In addition, the foreign ministers also focused on Moldova’s EU accession process, and Tsahkna recognized Moldova for its remarkable progress.

"We see that Moldova and its people want to move forward on their path towards the EU. This was demonstrated by the fall referendum, as well as by continued steps taken on the political and domestic level. I assured my colleague that we would share our experiences with Moldova and I see that the mood among Moldovans is the same as it was in Estonia 21 years ago," he added.