"We do not want to miss this unique opportunity." Hogan on boosting funding, investing in independent media and dialogue with Sandu

External partners of Moldova, including the World Bank (WB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the US and the EU, will increase financial support for the new government of the republic, "so as not to miss a unique opportunity" to solve the problems in the country. On July 19, the US Ambassador to Moldova Dereck Hogan stated this in an interview with Free Europe. He also noted that the US has invested whole lot of money to develop the independent media, and this has yielded results: "the Moldovan society has become much more educated and informed". As Hogan noted, the United States has invested heavily in the development of independent media, and this investment, in his opinion, was not in vain. "We see that the Moldovan society has become much more educated and informed about internal and external misinformation. I believe that this trend will continue to grow," Hogan said, speaking, in particular, about Russia's propaganda, which "played a destabilizing role in Moldova" but which the Moldovan independent media were able to resist. Hogan also noted that now the United States and other external partners will increase financial support for the new government of Moldova, as this is a "unique opportunity" to solve the existing problems in the country. "International aid will continue to flow and increase to support the priorities and objectives of the new government. If the government is determined to solve serious problems, development partners, including the IMF, WB and, of course, the United States and the European Union - we will all increase our support, because we now have a unique opportunity, and we do not want to miss it. ... I want this country to understand that the international community is by its side, we have always been and will remain reliable partners, and together we will achieve much greater success," Hogan said. Also, the US Ambassador noted that one of the main tasks of the new government now is the fight against corruption. And the US will offer support in this area. "(…) International community, development partners, we must offer support as soon as possible, which we will do. Last week, we had a dialogue with the President of the country [Maia Sandu], and the new head of USAID was present at this meeting. And we have offered our full support in reforming the judicial system, and we will provide it," Hogan said. As Hogan noted, given the end of his mandate, he will leave Moldova in the next two days. Dereck Hogan took office in October 2018. US President Joe Biden intends to appoint Kent Doyle Logsdon as the new US Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Moldova.