Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We all see the advantages of the European Union. We also see the particular geopolitical circumstances we are in. The term "new momentum" was used with regard to accession. That could probably be phrased as "real momentum" because it was not real previously. We are in the world we are in and, unfortunately, some of that has happened because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Moldova has obviously done a considerable amount of heavy lifting in that regard and still has a considerable population of refugees.

I will follow on from some of what Deputy Haughey said. It would be fair to say there was probably always a sizable grouping within Moldova that was not necessarily in support of EU accession. The changed world has changed that percentage. I imagine the demonstrations and all of that are an element of a considerable number of the Moldovan people wanting to express the fact that they see the EU as the only show in town regarding where they want to be.

The ambassador brought up a number of issues. A number of very important strides have been made by Moldova but, from what the ambassador said, it is being met along the road by the EU. She spoke reasonably regarding the Venice Commission and those moves that are necessary to meet the Copenhagen criteria. Are there, or have there been, any difficulties? We are talking about a significant amount of change, public administration, electoral reform, and de-oligarisation, which is a term nobody can ever pronounce properly. Moldova is doing all that in the context of being very close to Russia. We talk of hybrid warfare and cyberattacks and all the rest of it, but it is very real. How does Moldova deal with diversification and energy security, particularly given that it has been very reliant on Russia?

The hybrid and cyber threats are real. Will Mrs. Miculet detail the types of disinformation being employed by what I believe she is saying are probably state actors or state-sponsored actors? Has she had any engagement with the EU or with social media companies directly? Sometimes, their algorithms facilitate such actions.

I commend Mrs. Miculet. It was a comprehensive report, which made it difficult to ask questions.