Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome back the ambassador and thank her for her comprehensive report. She came here shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The invasion was a very dark day for her country, and for the European Union in general but obviously we have been working through the implications of the invasion ever since. I congratulate the ambassador on the progress that Moldova has made with the Copenhagen criteria and congratulate her on the various reforms that are taking place.

The ambassador has said that Moldova has 85,000 Ukrainian refugees. How is Moldova dealing with hosting so many refugees? I presume that caring for them is a huge challenge. The ambassador might tell me some of the practical difficulties that the situation has placed on Moldova.

In the last few days there have been pro-government demonstrations in Moldova.

Will the ambassador tell me a little about the background to that? Why did so many people feel the need to come out onto the streets to demonstrate pro-EU sentiment? I am interested to hear her take on those public demonstrations.

My colleagues will obviously have other questions. I may come back to the issue of hybrid warfare and all the ambassador said about that. Perhaps my colleagues will take that up. I wish the ambassador well. She mentioned that she expected negotiations to commence in October, with a view to the European Council taking a decision in December. We will certainly be behind Moldova in that regard. I hope that decision will be made at the Council's meeting in December. I wish the ambassador well with the European political community. It is a major show of solidarity to have that meeting in Moldova and I wish her well with its organisation. There are one or two questions in there somewhere.