The Eastern Partnership is doomed to fail because Ukraine wants war and Moldova wants money to get out of the energy crisis it provoked. The narratives were launched on the eve of the Eastern Partnership Summit with the aim of undermining the joint efforts of the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia to join the European Union.
NEWS: “Ukraine’s president is trying to overshadow his partners in the Eastern Partnership and to force the EU to fund “his” war”, eNews.md writes. “The December summit of the Eastern Partnership is supposed to breathe new life into this half-dead organization, which was created exclusively as a “buffer zone” around Russia”, the publication writes. “Moldova and Ukraine lack a common agenda, including European Union accession plans. That is, of course, if we are referring to a peaceful agenda, not a destructive one, not the military confrontation the Zelensky administration is trying to generate”. The author also claims that “Maia Sandu is going to Brussels to talk to people in hallways in order to secure loans and grants to finance her reforms. Another goal is to stabilize the economy, which is now going to rack and ruin after president Sandu virtually destroyed Moldova’s relations with Gazprom and caused an energy crisis”. The publication claims the Ukrainian president has a different agenda in Brussels, “because he is interested in war and confrontation, which he intends to fuel with support from the European Union” and that the Summit might fail due to Zelensky.
NARRATIVES: 1. The Eastern Partnership Summit will fail because Zelensky wants to drag the EU into a war. 2. Moldova and Ukraine don’t have a common agenda for European integration. 3. Maia Sandu needs European loans in order to stabilize the economy after destroying relations with Gazprom and causing an energy crisis.
BACKGROUND: On December 15, 2021, Brussels played host to the Eastern Partnership Summit, an initiative of the European Union involving six ex-Soviet countries. Attending the event were the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Belarus suspended its participation in the Eastern Partnership, although the EU announced its willingness to support and cooperate with the people of Belarus.
The EU Summit with countries in the Eastern Partnership confirms the European Union’s support for the European integration of these countries, in compliance with the joint declaration adopted at the end of the summit. Moreover, participants expressed their deep concern with repeated destabilizing actions and breaches of international law in many parts of the Eastern Partnership region, which pose a threat to peace, security and stability, calling on all parties to renew their efforts to promote a peaceful resolution of frozen conflicts in the Eastern Partnership region based on the principles and standards of international law.
At the same time, the EU recognized the initiative of the Associated Trio (Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine) to consolidate cooperation with the European Union.
The investment plan agreed upon on the sidelines of the Partnership Summit provides for improving connectivity and integration of the Republic of Moldova in the European cross-border transport network and for boosting the energy efficiency of social housing. In Brussels, representatives of the EU and the Republic of Moldova signed a financing agreement worth 60 million Euro. The funds will be used to help the population cope with the impact of the severe natural gas price hikes. The financing agreement adds to the 600-million-Euro economic recovery assistance package the EU will disburse to the Republic of Moldova over the course of the next three years. Additionally, officials signed the agreements needed to implement the project “Energy Efficiency in the Republic of Moldova”. The project will be funded by two 30-million-Euro loans from the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and a 2.8-million-Euro grant earmarked under the European Commission Neighborhood Investment Platform and the Eastern Partnership Technical Assistance Trust Fund. The summit also occasioned the signing of a Letter of Intent regarding the European Investment Bank’s readiness to hand out a 150-million-Euro loan to the Republic of Moldova for the rehabilitation of 150 kilometers of its national road infrastructure.
PURPOSE: The narratives were launched on the eve of the Eastern Partnership Summit with the purpose of downplaying the importance of the event and the joint efforts of the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia at establishing closer ties with the European Union. At the same time, the publication also tries to link the energy crisis and the economic difficulties facing the Republic of Moldova to the mandate of president Maia Sandu and diminish the importance of the EU’s financial support.
WHY THE NARRATIVES ARE FALSE: Indeed, the Summit’s agenda was dominated by security challenges in the Eastern Partnership region, although this agenda was determined not by the actions of Ukraine, but rather Russia, who has amassed a large military force on the eastern Ukrainian border. Ukraine is also fighting a war in Donbas, started and supported by Russia in 2014, shortly after annexing another region of Ukraine, the Crimean Peninsula, an illegal seizure that was condemned by the international community. Ukraine never launched a military campaign against another country, but is merely trying to liberate its territory from Russian-backed separatists and fighters in the two separatist republics. The narratives about Ukraine being held accountable for the military conflict in Donbas are part of a sweeping disinformation campaign orchestrated by the Russian Federation in the context of its hybrid war against Ukraine. According to the Kremlin’s propaganda machine, “the people of Crimea and Donbas” are fighting the Ukrainian “junta” and “fascists”, while the Russian troops on the ground are merely defending the population.
As regards the narrative about Ukraine and Moldova lacking a common European integration agenda, evidence against that can be found in the Associated Trio initiative, whereby Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Georgia pledged to take joint action to promote their European accession bids. This initiative, launched by Kiev, was recognized by the leaders of the EU member states and of European institutions. In a joint statement concerning the Eastern Partnership Summit, the heads of state and government of the Associated Trio countries (the Republic of Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine) acknowledge “the need to enhance cooperation of the Association Trio with the EU aiming at increased coordination among them on matters of common interest related to advancing the European Integration, including recognition of the European perspective of the Association Trio by the EU.
Equally false is the claim about Maia Sandu going to Brussels to secure loans and grants to “stabilize the economy, which is now going to rack and ruin after president Sandu virtually destroyed Moldova’s relations with Gazprom and caused an energy crisis”. The Eastern Partnership Summit occasioned the signing of a number of documents that stipulate the awarding of European funds to the Republic of Moldova, which will, indeed, help stabilize the economy. Yet the current economic difficulties facing the Republic of Moldova were not caused by Maia Sandu, but by previous governments and their poor economic management caused by corruption that is deeply rooted at all levels of Moldova’s political system and administration, undeclared work, the massive migration of the country’s workforce, etc. The economic crisis was also deepened by the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected several sectors of the economy. The energy crisis was triggered by the increase of natural gas prices on global markets. Against this backdrop, the Russian Federation used Gazprom to turn up the political heat on the pro-European administration in Chișinău. This is not the first time the Russian Federation uses this political tool in its relations with the Republic of Moldova, a country that is fully reliant on Russian gas imports. With respect to Moldova’s closer ties with the European Union, in the past Russia introduced embargos on Moldovan wine and foodstuff exports.
