CHISINAU, Aug 28, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - The leaders of France, Germany and Poland all expressed their support for Moldova's EU bid on Wednesday, slamming Russian "lies" and "hybrid attacks" during a symbolic visit to the former Soviet republic bordering Ukraine.

The visit comes a day before campaigning starts for next month's tense parliamentary election amid claims of Russian interference in the pro-EU nation.

French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk met Moldova's President Maia Sandu to celebrate the country's 34th independence day as she pushes for EU membership.

"We stand with you today and with President Maia Sandu, who has fought courageously from day one for an independent, strong, democratic Moldova anchored in Europe," Macron told a huge crowd that gathered in the capital on Wednesday evening for a concert as part of the official celebrations. He spoke in Romanian, the country's language.

Tusk, who joined the other leaders on stage, commended the Moldovans' "impressive... hard work and courage", urging them to "support" the country's president, who he said is "also the leader of all free Europeans".

"We deserve to live in peace and want to bring Europe home to us here," Sandu told the cheering masses. "There are forces that want to divert us from our path, but we are strong because we have extraordinary friends," she said, as many in the crowd waved Moldovan flags.

Earlier on Wednesday, Macron warned of "the Kremlin's propaganda (which) tells us that Europeans want to prolong the war and that the European Union oppresses people. These are lies.

"Unlike Russia, the European Union threatens no one and respects everyone's sovereignty," he told reporters alongside Merz, Tusk and Sandu, expressing France's "determined support" to Moldova and its EU bid.

Merz said the "door to the European Union is open", adding the country would be "wholeheartedly welcome in the European Union" and that Berlin would "do all we can to open the first chapter of negotiations in the autumn".

"Ahead of the parliamentary election here not a day goes by without massive Russian hybrid attacks," he said, adding Moldova's "democracy is in the crosshairs, online and offline".

- 'Immense pressures' -

Sandu hailed the visit, vowing there is "no alternative to Europe" for Moldova as "our independence, our sovereignty, our peace are tested more than ever".

"Your presence here -- France, Germany, Poland -- shows not only your support for Moldova, but that the European project is alive," she said.

Sandu and her European allies have repeatedly accused Moscow of attempting to destabilise the country of 2.6 million that lies between war-torn Ukraine and EU and NATO member Romania.

"These are immense pressures. But it is up to us whether they divide us or stop us on our path," she said.

A vocal critic of Russia, in particular since the start of its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Sandu has been steering Moldova through official EU accession talks that started in June 2024.

- 'Symbolic message' -

"The visit is really a strong sign of support, and it is a symbolic message to Russia that top European countries care and follow what happens here," political analyst Valeriu Pasha of the Chisinau-based think tank Watchdog told AFP.

He added it was the first visit of the so-called Weimar Triangle leaders together in Moldova.

While Sandu's PAS party is likely to top parliamentary elections at the end of September, the outcome is hard to predict given the "huge Russian interference in elections, with crazy amounts of money pumped in" amid voter concerns about economic difficulties and high inflation, Pasha said.

Sandu, re-elected for a second term in 2024, last month accused Russia of "preparing an unprecedented interference in the September elections" to "control Moldova from the fall".

The interference includes vote buying and illicit financing through cryptocurrencies, Sandu has alleged.

The three EU leaders' visit comes as the US-led drive for Russia-Ukraine peace talks seems to be stalling.