Antony Blinken. Photo: Collected
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visits Moldova on Wednesday (29 May) with plans to show robust support for the frontline country's Western aspirations amid alarm over Russian gains elsewhere. Blinken will spend a day in Moldova at a time when Russia is scoring a series of battlefield victories in neighbouring Ukraine.
The visit coincides with a move by Georgia, another former Soviet republic, which Tuesday rammed through a law against "foreign influence" seen as inspired by the Kremlin.
Russian troops have been stationed for decades in Moldova's breakaway region of Transnistria, where speculation grew earlier this year that Moscow would attempt outright annexation.
Blinken will announce "a robust package of support" for Moldova, said Jim O'Brien, the US assistant secretary of state for Europe.
He said the aid would focus in part on energy. Moldova until recently imported nearly all its natural gas from Russia but has been seeking to diversify.
O'Brien said Blinken would also announce measures to boost democracy and counter disinformation ahead of elections later this year in which pro- European President Maia Sandu is seeking a new term.
O'Brien described Sandu's track record as a "success" but said she has been "a target of Russian disinformation and aggressive operations" since the moment she took office.
"Obviously the people of Moldova will have a chance to decide. We want them to decide in a free and fair environment with as little interference or disinformation as possible," O'Brien told reporters.
Blinken's trip comes a week after the European Union signed a security and defence pact with Moldova that is also aimed at helping the country defend against Russian threats, including in cyber security.
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