The below is attributable to Spokesperson Rebecca Chalif:
Today, Administrator Power was in Chisinau, Moldova, where she met with President Maia Sandu and expressed her gratitude for Moldova’s generosity in welcoming Ukrainian refugees and reaffirmed the United States commitment to supporting Moldova’s economic and development goals. The Administrator also met with Moldovan journalists, members of civil society who are working to document war crimes in Ukraine and USAID’s Moldovan staff.
The Administrator began the day at MediaCor, a media center she inaugurated in November 2021, which now functions as a support center for refugees and a training center for journalists. The Administrator met with a group of local journalists who shared the challenges they are facing in reporting on the war in Ukraine, including the dramatic cuts in advertising revenue and a huge surge in Russian disinformation. They also discussed their work to train the next generation of journalists in fact-based reporting, as well as the rampant challenge of fighting disinformation that is working to distort public opinion about the war and to cast Ukrainian refugees in a negative light. Administrator Power then met with PromoLex, a local NGO that, in collaboration with Ukrainian prosecutors, has adapted its human rights programming to focus on gathering testimonies and collecting documentation of war crimes being committed by Russian forces in Ukraine.
Next, Administrator Power met with President Maia Sandu to thank the Moldovan government and people for the generosity shown to Ukrainian refugees. She underscored the United States’ support for Moldova’s democracy, sovereignty, and territorial integrity, and reaffirmed USAID’s commitment to helping Moldova meet the immediate needs and mitigate the economic toll of the Kremlin’s war. The two discussed Moldova’s reform agenda and the government’s plans to further strengthen its democracy, combat corruption, and deliver meaningful progress to its people.
Following the meeting, Administrator Power announced $50 million of additional economic and development assistance to bolster Moldova’s resilience to the long-term economic consequences of Putin’s brutal war in Ukraine, to bolster democracy, human rights and governance programming and to help reduce Moldova’s dependence on energy sources and financing from malign actors. This brings new U.S. assistance to the Republic of Moldova in response to the war to a total of $130 million.
The Administrator ended the day by visiting the USAID team in Chisinau, and thanking them for their tireless work to promote democracy, the rule of law, and economic opportunity in Moldova.