Moldova says it needs help dealing with refugee influx

The prime minister of Moldova says the poor Eastern European nation needs major international support to cope with the influx of people fleeing neighboring Ukraine.

Natalia Gavrilita tells a donor conference in Berlin that Moldova is hosting about 100,000 refugees from Ukraine, about a quarter of those who have entered since late February.

Refugees are waiting for buses to leave for Chisinau or other places, in the temporary train station near Palanca customs, Palanca, Moldova, March 8th, 2022. (Dan Gutu/European Union/AFP)

Gavrilita says Moldova, with a population of 2.5 million, has tried to provide refugees with decent conditions thanks to an “unprecedented mobilization” by the public and private sectors.

But she says “coping with this influx is one of the biggest challenges any Moldovan government has faced over the last three decades.”

She says that in addition to financial aid, Moldova also needs help building electricity interconnectors to Romania. She asked the European Union to open its market to agricultural imports from her country as it pivots away from Russia.