Moldovan President Maia Sandu warned Moscow will not stop if it wins in Ukraine and will threaten the rest of Europe as she signed a key bilateral defense and cooperation pact with France on March 7.
"If the aggressor is not stopped, he will keep going, and the front line will keep moving closer. Closer to us. Closer to you," Sandu said after signing the deal in Paris with her French counterpart, President Emmanuel Macron.
"Europe must therefore present a united front. Aggression must be repelled by a strong force," she added.
Macron in turn vowed France's "unwavering support'' for Moldova, one of the poorest countries in Europe, in the face of Moscow's threat.
France and Moldova reached an initial agreement in September on training of military personnel, regular consultations on defense, and intelligence sharing.
Sandu has said Moscow plans to undermine Moldova's stability and throw the southeastern European nation off its path toward European integration ahead of a presidential election and a referendum on membership in the European Union.
A report by Moldova's Intelligence and Security Service (SIS) has issued a stark warning about Russia's plans to derail Moldova's efforts to shake off Moscow's decades-long influence and move closer to the West.\
Speaking before she left for Paris, Sandu said that "Moscow wants to destabilize the situation in Moldova, Moscow want to intimidate Moldova's citizens, especially since this year we may have a referendum on Moldova joining the EU -- at least that is my proposal and I hope Moldova's parliament will back it."
The pro-Western Sandu, under whom Moldova made an abrupt U-turn from Russia to Europe, is up for reelection later this year after handing an upset defeat to Moscow-backed incumbent Igor Dodon in 2020.
Sandu has previously indicated that she would prefer that the presidential election and the EU membership referendum be held together. Moldova received an invitation to open accession negotiations with the 27-member bloc in 2022.
She said that militarily, Moldova is being shielded from a potential Russian attack by its eastern neighbor, Ukraine, which has been fighting Russia's aggression for the past two years.
"Moscow has no way of reaching Moldova, first of all because Ukraine is our shield, and Ukraine is resisting [Russia's aggression] and will keep resisting. And secondly because Moldova has powerful friends and has chosen to be on the side of the free world," Sandu said.
Before the visit, the French presidency said in a statement, providing further details, that France will reiterate its support "for the independence, sovereignty and security of the Republic of Moldova, in the context of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine."
Presenting his report on March 5, SIS chief Alexandru Musteata said his agency has come into possession of "certain data" about actions planned for this year and the next one that would compromise Moldova's accession to the EU and bring it back under Russia's sphere of influence.
"The details point to strategies for 2024 and 2025 that involve supporting pro-Russian political actors with ties to the intelligence services, organized crime groups, and the Kremlin leadership," Musteata said.
France on March 7 is also hosting an online meeting of EU defense and foreign ministers to discuss increasing support for Ukraine, but also for Moldova, which France said is facing "increasing destabilization moves" by Russia.
With Sandu at the helm, neutral Moldova also strongly condemned Russia's invasion of neighboring Ukraine, firmly aligning itself with Kyiv while tightening its ties with its other neighbor, EU and NATO member Romania, with whom Moldova shares a common language and history.
SIS chief Musteata said that his agency's intelligence suggests Moscow would use tools from its old playbook to sow instability in Moldova.
"We predict that attempts would be made to trigger several social and political crises, to spark clashes, and to incite interethnic hatred that would lead to security crises in the Gagauz autonomy or the Transdniester region," Musteata said.
Semiautonomous Gagauzia is populated mainly by ethnic Turkish Gagauz who speak Russian and have adopted Russian Orthodox Christianity.
Moscow-backed Transdniester declared independence from Moldova in 1990 and fought a war with Chisinau that was tilted in the separatists' favor by Russian troops who continue to be stationed in the region. It has recently "appealed" to Moscow for support to offset what it said was pro-Western Moldova's "unbearable pressure."
The appeal, which largely seemed orchestrated by the Kremlin itself, rang alarm bells in Western capitals as a prelude to a possible "unification" of the separatist region with Moscow.
"Moldova is facing increasingly aggressive attempts at destabilization," French Foreign Ministry spokesman Christophe Lemoine said on February 29.