A two-day event, held in Chisinau and attended by around 35 participants, brought together national working group members, international experts from five European countries, and representatives from civil society, the Pompidou Group of the Council of Europe, the European Union Drugs Agency, and UN agencies.

“The phenomenon of drugs and addictions is being widely discussed within the state institutions, the Parliament and in the public space. Today's discussion is crucial because we need to create a strategic framework, laws and regulations that underpin our activities in the drugs and addiction field and allocate the necessary budget for their implementation,” stated Angela Paraschiv, State Secretary of the Ministry of Health, as she opened the second workshop on development of Moldova’s 2026-2032 National Drugs and Addiction Strategy.

The Ministry of Interior, key partner in the Strategy development, stressed the importance of the Strategy for framing Moldovan response to the complex drug and addiction phenomenon, especially the shift of organised crime activities in scale and increasingly moving online.

During the dynamic sessions, participants stressed the importance of multisectoral coordination and provision of integrated prevention and care. Sustainable funding, baseline research and the systematic collection of gender- and age-sensitive data were agreed by all as the cornerstones of the Strategy’s successful implementation.

With the Strategy concept now approved by the State Chancellery, the next steps involve collecting final input from key partners over the next two weeks, before the Strategy is further advanced towards approval by September 2026.

The Pompidou Group provides expertise and technical assistance to the Strategy development as part of the project "Supporting the Republic of Moldova in addressing the risks and harms related to drug use and addictive behaviours” under the Council of Europe Action Plan for the Republic of Moldova 2025-2028.