"Europe is at war again. Two wars, in fact"

On January 27, President Maia Sandu delivered an address in Strasbourg to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). The speech came as Moldova holds the rotating presidency of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers - only the second time the country has done so, after 2003. It was also only the second time a Moldovan head of state has addressed the Assembly, and the first such address since 2001.

While often conflated with the European Union, the Council of Europe is a separate and older institution. Founded in 1949, its core mission has been to prevent the return of authoritarianism to Europe by upholding human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. Its most powerful body, the European Court of Human Rights, issues binding judgments for all 46 member states - including countries outside the EU such as Moldova, Ukraine, Türkiye, and the United Kingdom. Addressing PACE, then, means speaking not just to governments, but to the institutional guardians of Europe’s democratic norms.

President Sandu used that platform to argue that Europe is already facing two wars: one kinetic, and one hybrid. She urged the Assembly to “act at the speed of the threat,” warning that Europe’s response remains dangerously mismatched to the challenge:

“You do not respond to a patient in cardiac arrest by announcing a long-term public health strategy.”

I’ve decided to publish the speech in full for several reasons. The fact of a Moldovan president addressing PACE alone would make this moment notable. The fact that President Sandu used the address to issue a blunt warning of the threat, and critique of past action, makes it historic.

Moldova’s success in fending off sustained Russian hybrid attacks has given the country a credibility - and a degree of moral authority - that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago.

President Maia Sandu’s speech is published below in full. You can find it published on the website of the Presidency in English. If you prefer, you can also watch it on youtube here:

President of the Assembly, Madam Petra Bayr, congratulations on your election,
Secretary General, Alain Berset,
Honourable Members of Parliaments,
Distinguished guests,

Today, I want to speak about the two wars Europe is facing, how our democracies are being attacked, how those attacks are amplified by technology, and what we should do to protect our peace, our democratic choices, ...