From Moldova’s perspective, Germany is one of the most important partners in the EU, particularly with respect to shaping political and economic reform processes, on issues of EU rapprochement and in resolving the Transnistrian conflict. Germany supports Moldova’s objective of long-term stabilisation and development through sustainable reforms promoting democracy and the rule of law.

Germany is assisting Moldova on its path towards the European Union. Moldova was granted EU candidate country status on 24 June 2022. The European Council decided on 14 December 2023 to launch accession negotiations with Moldova.

Germany is one of the Republic of Moldova’s key trading partners. German companies have made major direct investments in the country, for example in the automotive supply industry. The Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA) and the additional liberalisation measures adopted by the European Union to soften the blow of Russian trade restrictions are having a positive impact on the Moldovan economy, even though the pandemic caused a setback in 2020.

In order to strengthen Moldova’s resilience in light of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock initiated the Moldova Support Platform together with her French and Romanian counterparts in April 2022. In 2022, significant support for the Republic of Moldova was generated at three high-level conferences in Berlin, Bucharest and Paris, each of which were attended by over 40 participating country delegations. The fourth conference took place in Chisinau on 17 October 2023 and focused on continued support for Moldova and the future design of the platform.

To date, bilateral support in the sphere of development cooperation has amounted to around 332.9 million euro between 1993 and 2023. The objective is to help improve people’s quality of life, especially in rural regions, for example through projects in the spheres of sustainable economic development as well as public administration and decentralisation. What is more, Moldova is a target country in the programme entitled Expanding Cooperation with Civil Society in the Eastern Partnership Countries and Russia (Eastern Partnership). The focus here is on strengthening the efforts to move closer to the EU, resilience against disinformation, support for marginalised groups and those affected by the war (in particular refugee women, children and LGBTQ persons), as well as capacity building.

In view of the impacts of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development has launched a programme to strengthen Moldova’s resilience.

Germany is also supporting Moldova in the defence sector and in the areas of border surveillance and border control.