17 December 2025

President of Moldova Maia Sandu visits Clingendael

By Wouter Zweers, Bob Deen, Monika Sie Dhian Ho , + 1

Bob Deen, Maia Sandu and Monika Sie Dhian Ho. ©David van Dam

The Clingendael Institute welcomed the President of Moldova, Maia Sandu, for a roundtable discussion. The conversation focused on Moldova’s EU candidate status since June 2022 and the progress made in the process. The discussion addressed democratic reforms, foreign interference and the road ahead.

Also joining the conversation were, among others, ambassadors and diplomats from various EU countries, journalists and experts. The discussion was held under the Chatham House Rule.

President Sandu spoke at length about the many reforms Moldova has undertaken in recent years despite a tumultuous political period including three elections - a presidential election, a parliamentary election, and a referendum - each facing sustained external interference, from disinformation campaigns to fake bomb threats at polling stations.

The President highlighted ongoing challenges and efforts, among which judiciary and public administration reforms and efforts to diversify energy supplies to reduce dependency from Russia and strengthen institutional resilience against Russian interference. Ms. Sandu shared experiences regarding her approach to foreign information manipulation and the hybrid threats challenging Moldova.

Clingendael Director Monika Sie Dhian Ho emphasised in her opening remarks that Clingendael is keen to continue its work on Moldova in the coming years, noting that both Clingendael Research and Clingendael Academy have maintained a longstanding focus on the country. Over the past 30 years, since the country’s independency and democratic origins, Clingendael Academy has trained numerous Moldovan diplomats through targeted diplomatic programmes, mostly funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Over time, Clingendael researchers wrote numerous reports on Moldova’s democratic reforms, the fight against hybrid threats, the challenges in the breakaway region of Transnistria, energy, elections, and broader geopolitics.

See also our recent analyses on Moldova: