Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar on Tuesday opened Israel’s first embassy in Moldova, over 30 years after the two countries established diplomatic relations, the Foreign Ministry said.
Sa’ar attended the inauguration ceremony in the capital Chisinau, where he was joined by Moldovan Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mihai Popsoi.
“This is a historic moment that marks a milestone in the relations between the countries,” Sa’ar said while describing Moldova as “a friendly country to Israel.”
He said that Israel’s policy is to “strengthen the relationships with our friends.”
“Today, we are upgrading our relationships, and we are doing it with great joy,” he said.
The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Sa’ar also met with Moldova President Maia Sandu and invited her to visit Israel. During their meeting, Sa’ar discussed the campaign against Iran’s axis of allies as well as the war in Ukraine.
“The Iranian threat is the most urgent,” he said but also warned about danger from Turkey.
“It is important to pay attention to Turkey’s actions in the region,” Sa’ar said, according to the statement. “Turkey is currently the most dominant country in Syria, it aspires to be the leader of Sunni Islam in the region.”
Land-locked Moldovia is bordered by Romania and Ukraine. Israel recognized Moldova’s independence from the former Soviet Union in 1991. A year later, the two countries formed diplomatic relations and since 1994 Moldova has had an embassy in Israel.
However, Israel did not have an embassy in Moldova, instead relying on roving ambassadors, most recently Joel Lion, who was the diplomatic representative in Armenia, serving both countries since 2022.
In a joint press conference with Popsoi, Sa’ar recalled the 1903 pogrom in the Moldovian capital as well as events during the Holocaust, the Kan public broadcaster reported. According to a US State Department report, experts have estimated that up to 200,000 Jews who lived in Moldova were murdered in the Holocaust.
Sa’ar thanked Moldova for recognizing “this painful period in history, and what it has done to ensure that those events are not forgotten.”
Incoming ambassador Lion has moved to Chisinau, from where he will run diplomatic, trade and tourist relations.
Speaking to Channel 12, Lion said, “There is a feeling that we are making history” and noted that Israel will seek Moldovan support at the United Nations, as it has done in the past.
Lion reported that shops and supermarkets in Moldova already stock Israeli products.
“These are small things that prove that a good relationship exists,” he said. “This is a friendly country, people here love us.”
He noted that some 70,000 Jews have immigrated from Moldova to Israel. Moldova, he said, could become a sought-after destination for Israeli tourists and the embassy sees one of its first tasks in revealing the country to potential visitors.
“There is enormous potential here for tremendous relations with a country that is heading toward the European Union,” Lion said.
Sa’ar decided to open the embassy in Moldova in December last year, shortly after he took up the role of top diplomat in a cabinet reshuffle. The announcement came the same day that he said he would close Israel’s embassy in Ireland, citing the “extreme anti-Israel policy of the Irish government.”