The Library of Congress
Remarks
ADMINISTRATOR SAMANTHA POWER: Hello, everybody. It is really, really wonderful to be here. And congratulations on the tenth anniversary of the convention. Elena [Dragalin], as founder and chairperson, and you have been absolutely instrumental in guiding the diaspora to support Moldova's development, which lately has been meteoric really, really is a pace of economic and political development that I can say with my global vantage point is very, very unusual. It's exceptional.
I also want to thank the Deputy Prime Minister [Mihai] Popsoi, who this is my second appearance with today. Two of what I'm sure will be many, because we certainly in the Biden Administration, as DFC’s CEO Scott Nathan will also attest, we are always interested in lending whatever political support or platforms we can, to giving Moldovan leaders the chance to tell their story, and you tell it so well, and it's a hell of a story to tell. So, really grateful for you being here and helping deepen the connections between the government and the diaspora, which are already very rich.
Thanks for everyone who has flown in, here, into the Thomas Jefferson Library of Congress building. There is, as is often the case in libraries, an interesting story about Thomas Jefferson, the Library of Congress, and Moldova – who knew. Two hundred and ten years ago, the Library of Congress was destroyed in a fire, along with most of its books. So Thomas Jefferson sold his collection of nearly 7,000 books to the U.S. government to restart the library, including one written by the Moldovan [leader], Dimitrie Cantemir, who was also a historian, a philosopher, a composer, and a linguist. Cantemir wrote the first substantial history of the Ottoman Empire in any European language that was the go-to text on the subject, as many of you know, for a century.
Fast forward today – to today – and right now the Library of Congress has more than 12,000 volumes on Moldova alone. From early histories exploring the Principality of Moldavia, two collections of Moldova literature, and it is a true testament to the reach and the power of Moldovan culture, its history and its heritage. A heritage that you are doing so much to protect, an independent spirit that so many of you are doing so much to nurture. So I think we've come to the right place.
We are, in the present, committed to supporting the Moldovan people as they chart their own future. Moldova is critical to its own region’s development, the broader region’s development, to its peace and security; and we, the United States, view Moldova as a really important long term partner for us. USAID has supported Moldova since the very beginning of its independence from the Soviet Union. Since 1992, we've invested more than a billion dollars in Moldova, and we are continuing that support today at what is a critical inflection point for the people of Moldova.
As you all in this room know, and indeed, thanks to many of your efforts, Moldova is at a moment of transformation. Today, the Moldovan people are strengthening their democracy, building their security and independence of their energy supply, and driving economic growth and investment that benefits all Moldovans. Again, with a focus not just on economic growth, but on inclusive economic growth – which has not always been the area of emphasis. And is doing all this even as, unfortunately, the Kremlin is doing everything in its power, anything possible really, to try to derail many of these ambitions. So what I'm going to just use the brief time I have left in doing, is describing a little bit about the work that USAID is doing in Moldova and with Moldovans, in the hopes that, as I described it, you will see a role for yourselves somehow, or people you know, in connecting with us and connecting with the work that we do. Because this is an all hands on deck moment for Moldova.
So, first, I’ll just talk about core democratic strengthening. Some of you may know that Moldova is a part of a flagship initiative, for President Biden and for me personally, which is called the Democracy Delivers Initiative. And this is a global effort, but that handpicks specific countries where there are significant reform efforts underway. Basically where there are democratization, openings, reform openings, bright spots for democracy, in a world that is backsliding in really profound ways when it comes to democratic progress. So we have looked to find where in the world are there countries where leaders are trying to enact democratic reform, root out corruption, and expand human rights rather than curtail human rights. And when these inspiring windows of opportunity arise, our goal is to open them further, or to have whatever the political space is that a leader has to do hard things to try to have that lasts longer, and then space to be larger.
And so we come together with our partners and we try to surge catalytic support, mainly resources. We try to help brave reformers as they work to deliver, economically specifically, because that's where the rubber meets the road for citizens. And Moldova is one of the countries that we chose very early on, it is clear that this reform effort was serious and that it had an awful lot of headwind coming at it that was trying to get in the way. So when it comes to democratic strengthening, we have supported independent media, which in turn, is holding the current government accountable. So even though we appear often with the government, we are supporting the checks and balances as well on the government. We are working to help citizens get access to more credible information. Obviously, citizens and governments alike are being bombarded with misinformation. We have trained more than 16,000 students in media literacy since 2017, equipping them with the skills to evaluate the reliability and objectivity of the information they are receiving. And this is really great. We are already seeing the results of these investments in the media sector, and in media literacy.
On the Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index, Moldova has moved from a rank of 55 out of 179 countries a decade ago, to now the rank of 28. And under the leadership of President [Maia] Sandu, who I've met many times as I know so has Scott – including my two trips to Moldova as USAID Administrator where I got to sample Moldovan wine, which I will never forget, and may come back to here in my remarks. Moldova has recently led a series of really important reforms to try to bring it closer to EU membership, and so these are democratic reforms fulfilling EU accession requirements – it has to be clear, is no easy task for any country, as many of those countries who have been in the queue and trying to fulfill all the various chapters can can attest. But the government of Moldova is meeting this challenge, already fulfilling seven of nine EU Commission requirements necessary for official accession negotiations. Last December, as you well know, the European Council agreed to formally open those negotiations with Moldova, a testament to the transformational work that public servants, entrepreneurs, and citizens are undertaking to advance the country's progress.
The second area of really important collaboration between USAID and the U.S. government and Moldova is in helping the country build its energy security and independence, which of course is necessary, it's also a significant vulnerability. It is well known that historically, Moldova has been almost completely reliant on Russia for its energy needs, and dependence that has become a tool for malign influence, and indeed what you might call economic blackmail. And that has come to a head, really in the wake of Putin's brutal full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
So we helped Moldova to stand up its newly reconstituted Ministry of Energy just last year, and have since worked with this Ministry, Energocom, and other international donors to offset the costs of more expensive energy during high energy use times, like of course, winter – the tough Moldovan winter. Last year, and this is really extraordinary, the U.S. Congress approved $300 million to help Moldovans improve domestic electric power generation and energy connections with Europe. And why’s this [inaudible] a large sum of resources and difficult budget time. But really, it speaks to, actually, how much better known Moldova and its story is becoming in Washington, up on Capitol Hill, and more broadly, in the United States.
And you all have a role to play here. I remember back when I was first traveling to Moldova and I was asking, you know, how many CODELS [Congressional Member Delegation] had been to Moldova recently? The answer was not a very encouraging one, because I was thinking to myself, we have to build a constituency on Capitol Hill – well how many members of Congress have tasted the wine? You know, how many have seen the industry, or the people, or the determination, you know, of citizens to forge a democratic and a European path. Once you feel it up close as you know as Moldovan Americans, it's an entirely different commitment that is changing. More and more, we've been able to encourage members of Congress and others, or their staff – because that matters sometimes almost as much – to stop into Moldova and to see for themselves what this little country that could, is up to.
In just a year, Moldova is rapidly expanding its connections to the European energy grids and has transitioned 100 percent of the gas needs on the right bank of the Nistru river to alternative sources, like solar and natural gas. Now, the Moldovan people are on the way to accessing energy when they need to without fear of blackmail, or without fear of the lights going off.
Lastly, I would just say USAID is working with the Moldovan government to revitalize the economy, particularly focusing on key sectors. We are supporting entrepreneurs and business people to diversify the economy by building up exports like wine, textiles, and stone fruits. These efforts have been fruitful. USAID has supported farmers in getting the equipment and the certifications that they need to get produce on a scale and at a guaranteed quality that international buyers are seeking. And that has been the key matchmaking – is working on the ground in Moldova with these sectors to make sure that they are actually meeting the tastes, and the needs, and the actual regulatory requirements of the export markets that farmers and other businesses seek to reach.
Since Moldova's plum exports, as part of this initiative, nearly doubled from 2022 to 2023. And it has now become the largest exporter of plums in the northern hemisphere, the country has, and the third largest in the world. Last year, grape exports also doubled, while sweet cherry exports increased fivefold. So these are real results, and again, attributed above all to Moldova determination. We are also supporting the Moldovan people's efforts to bolster the economy through tech advances. Since your last conference in Chicago, USAID facilitated a $1 million commitment from Google to support cyber resilience in Moldova, which is so important to all else, including the upcoming opening of the new Cyber Academy in the capital, which is going to train the next generation of Moldova's cybersecurity experts – it's going to spearhead research, and innovation, and shore up the country's civilian cyber defenses.
I’m glad to share that just a week ago, USAID also facilitated a partnership with the global technology company Cisco to support the Cyber Academy by offering the software, analytics, and tech equipment it needs at a nearly 70 percent discount. We are excited to see what the future holds in store for Moldova, particularly with you, the diaspora community, at the ready to support Moldova’s progress.
As you are here to discuss, and I won't say much about this as I close, but there are so many different ways for you to get involved. You can invest and expand your businesses in Moldova, as I know many of you here today have done, or are trying to do. We’ll hear, again, more from DFC CEO Scott Nathan, about how we can work together to attract the private sector to invest more in Moldova. You can choose to contribute your skills and knowledge as public servants in Moldova. As I know, several of you here today have done, and this I will say I find incredibly inspiring. Special shout out to Elena’s daughter, Veronica [Dragalin], who has become the Chief Prosecutor in the anti-corruption body in Moldova. Such an important job in not only spearheading democratic progress, but also paving the way for investors to feel more excited about being in Moldova, when they know that corruption is being tackled it's an entirely different conversation.
You can advocate for more policy changes in Moldova and here in the United States, particularly, as our own U.S. Congress is voting tomorrow, just steps from here, on critical national security legislation that will determine whether or not we can continue to give our Ukrainian partners and assistance they need to stand up to Putin’s aggression, which threatens, of course, the entire region. You can directly contribute your skills and resources through organizations like DHub and Moldova AID. And I want to congratulate you all on creating an official NGO that can help channel the extraordinary potential of the diaspora community to support Moldova – as somebody who likes this shout out here, so I'm glad about that.
And very last thing I'll say, but really, in some ways, the most fundamental, you can vote. I don't know if you've heard, but there's an important election coming up this fall and not only the American presidential election, there's a major important election happening in Moldova in October of this year. Moldova, for the first time in its history is accepting mail-in votes from the United States and Canada, as it gears up for a substantial increase in overseas votes. Having had some discussions today about this, this is not going to be easy. Word of mouth is going to be absolutely critical. Everyone, you will need to find ten friends who themselves find ten friends, and ten friends, and so on and so on.
So, using your voice to get out the vote. This is an election, honestly, that is going to decide whether this dramatic transformation continues, whether it accelerates and deepens, or whether it is stopped in its tracks. This election matters so very much. I urge you to connect with your relatives, your friends and your neighbors, in Moldova as well, to get out the vote there.
We are standing ready to assist you. We have colleagues at our Mission from Moldova who are here today to engage with you if you have an idea, no idea is too crazy. You’d be amazed what we've managed to hatch together, from what started as a wild and crazy idea. But you have the resources, you have the knowledge, you have the intellectual capital, we would love to work with you, and of course, the government to help you deploy all of those resources to great effect in a country that is doing really remarkable things.
So thank you so much, and thank you for having me.