Moldova-United States strategic partnership at the centre of IPRE’s advocacy visit to Washington

From 22 to 24 June 2026, Iulian Groza, Executive Director of the Institute for European Policies and Reforms (IPRE), undertook an advocacy visit to Washington, hosted by the Stimson Center and dedicated to the future of the strategic partnership between the Republic of Moldova and the United States. The visit coincided with the 36th anniversary of the Republic of Moldova’s Declaration of Sovereignty.

The central message conveyed to American interlocutors was firm: the Republic of Moldova is one of European security’s success stories. In five years, the country has moved from a captured state in Moscow’s orbit to a resilient democracy that defends its own territory on the front line of Russia’s war against Ukraine. The Republic of Moldova does not ask others to solve its problems; it asks its partners to hold, together, a line that serves their interests in equal measure. Today’s front line is hybrid, and resilience is the first line of defence.

The public centrepiece of the visit was the discussion “The U.S.-Moldova Partnership: A Conversation with Ambassador Vladislav Kulminski”, hosted by the Stimson Center and opened by Rachel Stohl, Acting President and CEO of the Stimson Center, with the participation of His Excellency Vladislav Kulminski, Ambassador of the Republic of Moldova to the United States. The public event was preceded by a private roundtable on the Republic of Moldova’s security, ongoing reforms and international partnerships, with the participation of Iulian Groza and Sanda Sandu, Security Programme Coordinator at the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in the Republic of Moldova.

As part of the programme organised by the Stimson Center, Iulian Groza held meetings at the United States Department of State and with members of Congress and their teams, including the office of Representative Deborah Ross (Democrat, North Carolina), co-chair of the Congressional Moldova Caucus, Representative Mike Lawler, and the office of Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The discussions focused on the priorities of the strategic partnership: security and resilience, energy security and diversification, cyber security, combating transnational crime and illicit financial flows, and support for Ukraine. The Republic of Moldova manages the Transnistrian issue through its own reintegration policy, peacefully and within the rule of law.

Separately from the programme organised by the Stimson Center, at the invitation of Ambassador Vlad Kulminski, Iulian Groza met Representative Virginia Foxx (Republican, North Carolina) for a conversation devoted to the more than three decades of ties between the Republic of Moldova and the state of North Carolina.

At the Atlantic Council, Iulian Groza met Ian Brzezinski, Senior Fellow at the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, to discuss the regional security architecture and to reiterate the invitation to take part in this year’s edition of the Moldova Security Forum (8–9 October 2026, Chișinău).

At the World Justice Project, the organisation that publishes the annual Rule of Law Index, the global benchmark for measuring the rule of law, the discussions laid the groundwork for a strategic partnership with IPRE. On 15 June 2026, the European Union opened Cluster 1, the Fundamentals, of the Republic of Moldova’s accession negotiations, the first cluster to open and the last to close, which makes the rule of law the critical path to accession. Building on the results of the #Justice4Moldova project, IPRE and the World Justice Project intend to develop a Rule of Law Index for the Republic of Moldova, which IPRE plans to launch in Chișinău this autumn at the Moldova European Integration Forum, and to train a new generation of experts to independently monitor Chapters 23 and 24, thereby contributing to the advancement of the accession negotiations.

Iulian Groza, Executive Director IPPRE: The Republic of Moldova is a strategic ally of the United States and one of European security’s success stories. A democratic choice made under pressure holds better than one made in comfort. Today’s front line is hybrid, resilience is the first line of defence, and Russia has no veto over the sovereign choices of the Republic of Moldova.