Moldova
Moldova has made countering corruption and building an accountable, independent justice system the core of the government’s work to strengthen democracy. Moldova’s anti-corruption and judicial reform agenda, however, faces serious challenges from constrained budgets, limited human resources, malign influence by corrupt oligarchs and foreign governments, and negative effects of Russia’s unprovoked war against Ukraine.
INL’s efforts support Moldova’s democratic trajectory, aspirations for European Union integration, and territorial integrity through judicial reform, improving border security, countering hybrid threats related to the war in Ukraine, and supporting the government’s ambitious anti-corruption reform agenda.
INL Programming
- Rule of Law – strengthen institutions and combat corruption.
- Border Security – secure international borders and strengthen sovereignty.
- Citizen Security and Law Enforcement – advance reforms and strengthen law enforcement with a deepening respect for human rights; counter increased hybrid threats in the wake of Russia’s unprovoked war against Ukraine.
Goals
INL supports the Moldovan government’s implementation of effective judicial vetting and institutional reforms that build a resilient judicial sector that holds corrupt actors accountable.
INL aims to improve Moldova’s cybercrime investigative capabilities and enhance law enforcement capacity to promote a secure cyberspace and counter cybercrime, including online human trafficking and child exploitation.
INL seeks to strengthen Moldovan border security, with a focus on the Moldova-Ukraine border.
INL supports the further professionalization of law enforcement entities to establish a well-equipped, well-trained force that meets international standards and has a high level of citizen trust.
Accomplishments/Impact
- Since 2017, INL has funded four community policing centers. The community policing initiative operationalizes law enforcement’s primary role of serving the public in a true partnership that meets the needs of its citizens.
- Since the beginning of Russia’s unprovoked war against Ukraine, INL has provided information technology and secure communications equipment to the Moldovan Border Police to improve interdiction along the Moldova-Ukraine border.
- INL helped establish a Recruitment and Evaluation Center in 2022 to modernize and increase transparency hiring in Ministry of Internal Affairs hiring processes.
- INL donated a high-performance computer that can quickly retrieve and analyze information from mobile phones, enabling more effective targeting and penetration of human trafficking and other cybercriminal rings in Moldova.