Commending the Government and people of the Republic of Moldova for their heroic efforts to support Ukrainian refugees fleeing President Putin’s illegal war against Ukraine.

Commending the Government and people of the Republic of Moldova for their heroic efforts to support Ukrainian refugees fleeing President Putin’s illegal war against Ukraine.

Whereas, on February 18, 2022, the United States and Moldova marked 30 years of diplomatic relations;

Whereas, on February 24, 2022, armed forces of the Russian Federation began an illegal, unjustified, and unprovoked attack on Ukraine with missile strikes against densely populated urban areas, including Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, and the regional hubs of Odesa and Mykolayiv, which lie close to Moldova;

Whereas Moldova is a country of approximately 2,600,000 people that relies heavily on remittances sent to Moldova by the Moldovan diaspora;

Whereas, in 2011, the Government of Moldova passed a law entitled “Law on Integration of Foreigners in the Republic of Moldova”, which provided refugees and beneficiaries of humanitarian protection access to social security, primary and secondary education, medical insurance, cultural integration support, language classes, and employment counseling;

Whereas, prior to the most recent invasion of Ukraine by President Vladimir Putin, the Government of Moldova assessed that the infrastructure in Moldova could accommodate not more than 15,000 refugees;

Whereas, only one day after the commencement of the unconscionable attack on Ukraine by President Putin, the people of Moldova welcomed more than 16,000 refugees;

Whereas, since 2014, more than 450,000 refugees fleeing the invasion of Ukraine by President Putin had entered Moldova and more than 100,000 of such refugees chose to remain in Moldova;

Whereas, by March 7, 2022, 89 percent of Ukrainian refugees arriving in Moldova were women and children;

Whereas, by March 9, 2022, an estimated 6 out of every 100 people in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, were refugees;

Whereas, by April 26, 2022, refugees comprised more than 16 percent of the population of Moldova;

Whereas the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Representative for Central Europe Roland Schilling said, “The attitude of Moldovan authorities is really impressive”, and noted that “local communities came to help refugees, feeding them, supporting them” at the border;

Whereas the Government of Moldova has created “green corridors” to facilitate the crossing of refugees from Ukraine to Romania and other countries in the European Union;

Whereas, over the past year, the Government of Moldova and civil society have embarked on meaningful reform of the justice system and promoted good governance and economic stability in Moldova;

Whereas, on March 3, 2022, Moldova formally submitted its application to join the European Union, signaling a commitment to democratic values and the rule of law;

Whereas, on March 16, 2022, the European Union announced that Moldova and Ukraine had completed the emergency synchronization process with the Continental European Grid, operated by the European Network of Transmission System Operators;

Whereas, as of April 21, 2022, the United States has provided more than $25,000,000 to support humanitarian operations in Moldova;

Whereas, on April 22, 2022, a senior military official of the Russian Federation indicated that the Russian Federation intended to conquer southern Ukraine and join that territory with Transnistria, a breakaway region of Moldova; and

Whereas, in late April and early May 2022, reports of unexplained explosions in Transnistria elevated concerns that the Russia Federation could expand its war into Moldova: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved,