Maia Sandu
The Guardian
What holds, and what fails, under pressure, standards and accountability.
Maia Sandu is the President of Moldova, focused on maintaining democracy and integrity in governance amidst significant external challenges. This interview highlights her commitment to anti-corruption and the protection of her country's sovereignty, showcasing her principled leadership in turbulent times.
“This is why the illicit funding is a very difficult issue for us to deal with, especially since we are a small country. What we have done after the experience we had with the referendum in 2024, we put together a team. You need to have a lot of institutions working together. For instance, on the illicit funding.”
“I visited when I was not in politics when I didn't have a public position, but otherwise no. Now, of course, since the war, it's not an active conflict. We have peace for a long time now, but the Russians are keeping their army there. This is an illegal presence of the Russian army.”
“You have to be very strong. You should not expect that you're going to have a lot on hate speech and then everything's going to be nice. You can have Moldova has a law against the hate speech, but it doesn't really work. You have to know that it's going to be very tough.”
“If we have a referendum, I would vote for the unification with Romania. Look at what's happening around Moldova today. Look at what's happening in the world.”
The Rest Is Politics: Leading — 170. President of Moldova, Maia Sandu: Holding the Line Between Democracy and Putin
LISTEN AT THE SOURCE ↗THE RECORD IS CHECKABLE