AMNA NAWAZ: Moldova is a small Eastern European nation of almost three million people, nestled between Ukraine and NATO member Romania.

And, recently, it's become a stage for Russian interference and drone incursions.

Nearly 40 Russian drones entered Moldovan airspace in the last eight months alone.

GEOFF BENNETT: And, last year, Moldova accused Russia of trying, but failing to engineer a win for a pro-Russian, anti-European party in their 2025 parliamentary elections.

Moldova's Prime Minister Vasile Tofan spoke with Nick Schifrin this afternoon at the U.N.

General Assembly in New York.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Mr.

Prime Minister, thank you very much.

Welcome to the "News Hour."

Moldova faces an increasing threat from Russian drones; 17 Russian drones crashed in Moldova just last month.

That's nearly as many as in all of 2025.

Is there any doubt in your mind that this is deliberate?

VASILE TOFAN, Prime Minister of Moldova: Yes, this is deliberate, for sure.

I think Russia is doing two things here.

One, they are probing NATO, because many of these drones are making it to Romania.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Romania, a NATO country.

Moldova is not.

VASILE TOFAN: Romania being a NATO country, Moldova being a neutral country.

The second thing they are doing, they're trying to hit supply routes for Ukrainian grain export, because many of these drones hit right by the border to try to intimidate the exporters.

And this is a clearly deliberate action.

We have had more drones falling in August than in the whole of 2025.

So I think that such things don't happen by accident.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Your president has acknowledged that your air defense systems are -- quote -- "woefully behind."

What do you need to counter this threat?

VASILE TOFAN: We have been investing in raiders just to scan the sky, but also we need to move to the next step and invest in interceptors as a as a country, so that we can protect ourselves.

Fortunately, the cost of such technology have come down.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Will the drone attacks affect your support for Ukraine, for example?

Will you change your policy because of this?

VASILE TOFAN: We will firmly stay neutral, but that doesn't mean we cannot help Ukraine in different ways.

And I think we have done a lot, sometimes at the political cost, for example, in allowing grain transportation, which you know is not always popular with our farmers.

So I think the pressure is on us to do more explanation why such things are important.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Of course, it's not just drone attacks that Moscow has launched.

Russia has repeatedly interfered in Moldovan elections, financing opposition candidates, launching a disinformation campaign, even hacking into the phones of Moldovan government officials.

What is the goal ultimately, and how sophisticated have these efforts been?

VASILE TOFAN: Russia is seeing a potential victim in Moldova.

And they -- they have used the entire plethora of instruments.

Some of them, you have mentioned them.

What I'm really proud is that we have managed to counter these attacks actually on multiple occasions.

We're one of the few democracies globally that managed -- where the government managed to win elections despite such a huge interference, which I think speaks to our ability to deter such things.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Your neighbors have also been the victim of that kind of election interference.

What have you learned?

VASILE TOFAN: Speaking openly about these threats and being very -- being very transparent about the... NICK SCHIFRIN: Calling them out.

VASILE TOFAN: Well, being very, very direct about the magnitude of these attacks and being on topic in terms of society -- civil society in terms of media, for example.

We have had fantastic work by independent media investigators who infiltrated in these networks and produced very insightful documentaries about how these Russian networks work on our territory.

So, in that sense, truly, Moldova has something to teach the world in terms of how this hybrid warfare works.

NICK SCHIFRIN: You have also created the Center for Strategic Communications and Countering Disinformation.

Is that working?

Are you prepared if Russia were to do this again?

VASILE TOFAN: It's the David v. Goliath kind of work.

Of course, Russia has many more resources than we do.

But I think, with the little resources we have, we try to be more strategic and focused in terms of countering such threats, and the center you mentioned is part of that defense.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Do you think Moscow's ultimate goal is what it was in Ukraine, to replace the government with some kind of puppet?

VASILE TOFAN: Absolutely.

You see, Moldova is the country that shares the longest border with Ukraine of any other countries to the west.

So we have about 800 miles' border with Ukraine.

So the entire southwestern frontier of the country is actually Moldova.

So, of course, Russia would hugely benefit strategic -- strategically if they place a favorable government, say a Moscow-friendly government, in Moldova.

And that's what makes it so important for us to fight against that attempt.

NICK SCHIFRIN: How important is it to Moldova that Ukraine not just survive this war, but win the war, or at least there's a just peace?

VASILE TOFAN: We understand that the independence of Moldova is decided now on the front lines in Donbass.

So, in that sense... NICK SCHIFRIN: In Eastern Ukraine.

VASILE TOFAN: In Eastern Ukraine.

So, in that sense, of course, we are we are fully behind the heroic sacrifices of the Ukrainian people, because we understand they don't fight only for their independence.

They also fight for ours.

And the importance of a just peace there is -- cannot be underestimated, because we -- an abuser cannot be tolerated.

And we're creating hugely dangerous precedents here if the peace would be one that would tolerate the abuses that have been committed by Russia.

NICK SCHIFRIN: You and Ukraine started accession talks into the European Union on the same day.

Why is it so important that Moldova joined the E.U.?

VASILE TOFAN: We escaped the Soviet past, and I think this European idea is one idea that unites us.

So this is truly a national project.

I think it's important identity-wise that we are a European nation, but it's also important economically.

So, almost 70 percent of our exports go to E.U., so we are very heavily anchored and dependent on the European economy.

So, to that end, of course, we want to be integrated also institutionally.

That's why we're so, so focused on getting that done.

NICK SCHIFRIN: And, finally, you're here in New York.

You're here in the United States.

You're one of the few European countries to answer the Trump administration's call to reduce tariffs on American imports to zero percent.

What is the relationship that you want right now with the Trump administration?

What are you asking for from the United States?

What's the most important thing?

VASILE TOFAN: We're a small country with a small domestic market, so I think we have to compete by having more business-friendly environments and want to extend a very warm welcome to all the American companies that are looking to take advantage of Moldova's positioning and capitalize on that platform to serve European countries, to serve eventual reconstruction of Ukraine and other regions.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Prime Minister Vasile Tofan, thank you very much.

VASILE TOFAN: Thank you so much.