In a powerful show of symbolic and strategic support, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk arrived in Chișinău on 27 August to mark Moldova’s Independence Day. Their presence sends a clear signal to Moscow—and to the EU’s eastern neighbourhood—that Moldova’s future is firmly European.
The visit comes just weeks ahead of Moldova’s September parliamentary elections and amid rising fears of Russian influence operations.
With the country’s pro-EU government pushing forward with reforms and its application to join the bloc, Western support has grown louder and more public.
For the Adria region, Moldova’s trajectory offers both inspiration and a reminder: that regional alignment with the EU is not just about process, but presence. The highest-level Western leaders showed up—literally—where it matters most geopolitically.
