Moldova has been placed in the second category of countries trying to meet the standards set out in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA). This was announced by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.

He presented the US State Department’s Annual Report on Trafficking in Persons, starting his address with the words “People must be free”.

“The authorities of the Republic of Moldova do not fully comply with the minimum standards to eradicate human trafficking, but are making significant efforts to do so. The government has demonstrated an overall increase in efforts compared to the previous reporting period, given the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its ability to combat trafficking.

Thus, Moldova remained at level 2. These efforts included condemning more traffickers, identifying significantly more victims and approving a new National Action Plan (NAP) with funds for its implementation”, says the section of the Report on Moldova.

It also notes that the government still fails to meet minimum standards in several key areas, corruption being one of the main obstacles.

Full details can be found in the US State Department report