Moldova’s president thanked Romania on Thursday for offering her country masks, hazmat suits and other protective gear to help the former Soviet republic fight the spread of Covid-19.
President Maia Sandu said she was grateful for Romania’s prompt offer of free aid to the impoverished country of 3 million which has reported an accumulated 166,550 Covid-19 cases since the pandemic began.
”I was happy to learn of more humanitarian aid,” she wrote in a post on Facebook.
Relations with neighbor and traditional ally Romania have warmed since Ms Sandu won elections in November last year.
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis visited Moldova in December 2020, days after she formally took office.
During the visit, he offered Moldova up to 200,000 anti-Covid-19 vaccines. Moldova isn’t a member of the European Union and as such isn’t eligible for the vaccines which Romania has received.
However, Ms Sandu wants to move the country closer to the EU and she said she had recently discussed reactivating a European civil protection mechanism with European Union officials and Romanian Prime Minister Florin Citu that would enable Moldova to access aid.
Moldova reported 890 new SARS-CoV-2 cases on Wednesday and 16 deaths. No figures were available for Thursday.
The former World Bank economist defeated predecessor Igor Dodon who pursued closer relations with Russia and neglected the EU.
In the coming days, Moldova will receive 100,000 hazmat suits, 100,000 FFP-3 masks, 5 million facemasks, an d 100,000 pairs of medical gloves, worth 2 million euros from Romania.
“We thank the Romanian government for its support. Romania wasd the first Eu country that immediately reacted to our request for help in fighting the coronavirus.”
Moldova signed an association agreement with the 27-member bloc in 2014, to the dismay of Russia, which then placed an embargo on Moldovan wines and some fruits and vegetables.
