Moldovan president says reform of local public administration communal effort between villages

President Maia Sandu addressed local elected officials who gathered in Chisinau today, in the presence of Romania’s Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan. She emphasized the urgent need for reform of local public administration as the only path to modernizing the country’s villages and towns.

The head of state reminded that, after three decades of independence, the situation in Moldova’s localities stayed painful: “Moldova still has too many villages without running water, with impassable local roads, with public buildings whose roofs are leaking.”

Larger administrative structures are the only realistic way forward for change: “A larger mayoralty has a greater financial capacity and can implement major projects,” while small mayoralties spend most of their resources on current maintenance. More than 500 mayoralties have already decided to merge their administrations, and the EU accession process makes the reform even more urgent: pre-accession funds are meant for impactful regional projects, accessible only to consolidated structures.

The president thanked Prime Minister Bolojan and Romania for their constant support for the development of localities from Moldova and for the assistance offered to Moldovan mayors. Romania’s experience in consolidating local public administration and navigating the EU accession process is a valuable model and reference point for Moldova. “The experience of neighboring countries, of European states shows that larger administrative structures represent an opportunity for modernization” – and Romania is a direct witness to this transformation.

Thanking local elected officials for their “tireless work, day after day, in the service of their communities” and for their courage in undertaking a difficult reform, the President called for unity: “The reform is, in fact, a communal effort between villages. […] We love our villages, so let us build for them, with confidence, a modern future.”