CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) — The leaders of France, Germany, and Poland traveled Wednesday to Moldova to mark the country’s 34 years of independence from the Soviet Union, a month before it holds parliamentary elections that its president warns could draw Russian interference.

France’s President Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk arrived in the capital of the European Union-candidate country for talks with pro-Western Moldovan President Maia Sandu. The leaders will also attend a public celebration to mark Independence Day, which Moldova proclaimed on August 27, 1991.

Macron said in Chisinau that the visit aims to show that “Moldova matters and that its future lies with Europe and the European Union.”

The European leaders’ visit come

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