German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told Moldovan President Maia Sandu and Prime Minister Dorin Recean on Wednesday that Berlin will remain Europe’s biggest supporter of Ukraine during the first visit to Moldova by a German leader to the country in 12 years.
The talks between the German and Moldovan leaders in the Moldovan capital Chisinau focused on bilateral relations and security policy issues, specifically, Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, and Germany’s support of Moldova’s accession to the European Union.
Chancellor Scholz is the first German leader to arrive in Moldova on a bilateral working visit since 2012.
The Chancellor stressed that Germany’s unwavering support for Ukraine as he sought to push back concerns that spending cuts in the coalition government would jeopardize funding to Moldova’s neighbor.
“We will continue to support Ukraine as long as necessary,” he told reporters during a trip to Moldova on Wednesday. “Everybody can depend on us.”
Concerns flared after a report in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung said a cut in the budget meant that no new additional funds would be allocated for military aid to Ukraine.
The German leader said that his government remained the European Union’s biggest financial supporter of Ukraine, with 4 billion euros earmarked in Germany’s budget next year.
Standing next to pro-Western President Maia Sandu, the German leader Scholz reiterated Germany’s support for Moldova’s bid to join the EU, which he said was in the interests of the bloc, as well as Germany and Moldova.
The former Soviet republic, which neighbors Ukraine and EU-member state Romania, plans to hold a referendum on joining the 27-member bloc on Oct. 20, on the same day it holds a presidential election where Sandu is favored to win a second term.
The former World Bank Economist wast elected in 2020 on a pro-European ticket and has worked to eradicate endemic corruption and develop a Western-style democracy. She has repeatedly accused Russian of trying to destabilize the country of 3 million with disinformation campaigns.
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