Joe Conway (Independent)

I would like to be associated with all the comments in relation to Martin Groves and Bridget Doody, who have now left us. I also welcome the new Martin and wish him well in his time here with us in the Upper House.

I will draw attention briefly not to the election that is uppermost in many people's minds, but to an election that is coming up on Sunday next in the Republic of Moldova. About 20 years ago, when I was a member of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, I had the privilege of going to Moldova twice to monitor elections. I saw at first hand the type of country it was. Even then, it was beginning to come out from under its domination by the Soviet Union but it was a very underdeveloped country and it remains so. The 2.75 million people there live in a country that does not know many of the infrastructural delights we have in this country. Next Sunday's election is going to be very significant because the pro-European Union Government of Maia Sandu is being seriously challenged by a pro-Kremlin opposition that hopes to destabilise Moldova's eagerness to join the EU. You can imagine the sort of hi-jinks that are going on. There is disinformation, intimidation and the buying of votes. I draw particular attention to one of the people sanctioned by the west, Ilan Shor, who set up a bank and then systematically withdrew the equivalent of 12% of the gross annual wealth of Moldova. He is now holed up in Russia and being protected by the Kremlin but he is paying people left, right and centre in Moldova to get the result that Mr. Putin wants. It just underscores something I have said often in this House before, which is that Russia must be shown up for what it is. It is an evil threat to the quality of life and the democracies that we love in these countries. It must be called out and shown up for what it is. I have my fingers crossed that the election goes in the West's favour next Sunday, 28 September.