Ukraine neighbor Moldova ‘very worried’ about invasion by Russia

Get real time updates directly on you device, subscribe now.

Gavrilita, a graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government who took office in August 2021, said her country is not the only one that has reason to be concerned about the invasion launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin in February.

“This is a very difficult position not just for Moldova but for any small country, any country that relies on the rules-based international order,” she said. “If a country can start an annexation war without any regard for, you know, international law, then in this sense nobody is safe, and I think that a lot of countries are worried.”

The prime minister noted Moldova’s “troubled history in a complicated region” of the world, something that continues to this day. Zakaria pointed out that the current war has damaged Moldova’s economy.

“Indeed,” Gavrilita said. “Moldova is the most affected country after Ukraine economically from this war. We saw already very high inflation. The inflation in June was at 32 percent.”

But the prime minister told Zakaria her people have weathered the crisis nobly, noting that her country has willingly absorbed large number of refugees, regardless of the cost.

“We have seen, for example, in polls that even after receiving a very large number of refugees, 85 percent of Moldovans say that they would receive more refugees and 50 percent say, unconditionally, for whatever time. So this makes me very optimistic about the wisdom of my people,” she said.