Moldova,officially the Republic of Moldova,is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe,on the northeastern corner of the Balkans. The country spans a total of 33,483 km2 and has a population of approximately 2.5 million as of January 2023. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north,east,and south. The unrecognised breakaway state of Transnistria lies across the Dniester river on the country's eastern border with Ukraine. Moldova is a unitary parliamentary representative democratic republic with its capital in Chișinău,the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre.
"Limba noastră" is the national anthem of Moldova. It has been used since 1994 and was officially adopted on 22 July 1995.
Moldovan,archaically spelled Moldavian,is one of the two local names for the Romanian language in Moldova. Moldovan was declared the official language of Moldova in Article 13 of the constitution adopted in 1994,while the 1991 Declaration of Independence of Moldova used the name Romanian. In 2003,the Moldovan parliament adopted a law defining Moldovan and Romanian as glottonyms for the same language. In 2013,the Constitutional Court of Moldova interpreted that Article 13 of the constitution is superseded by the Declaration of Independence,thus giving official status to the name Romanian. The breakaway region of Transnistria continues to recognize Moldovan as one of its official languages,alongside Russian and Ukrainian. Ukraine also continues to make a distinction between Moldovan and Romanian,with one village declaring its language to be Romanian and another declaring it to be Moldovan,though Ukrainian officials have announced an intention to remove the legal status of Moldovan. On 16 March 2023,the Moldovan Parliament approved a law on referring to the national language as Romanian in all legislative texts and the constitution. On 22 March,the president of Moldova,Maia Sandu,promulgated the law.
Moldova elects a legislature at national level. The Parliament (Parlamentul) has 101 members,elected for a four-year term by proportional representation with a 6% electoral threshold. The President used to be elected for a four-year term by a constitutional majority of 60% members of the Parliament,but a Constitutional Court's ruling on 4 March 2016,reverted the election method of the President to a two-round system direct election.
The ȘOR Party was a populist political party in Moldova. Known from its foundation in 1998 until October 2016 as the Socio-Political Movement "Equality",the party held Eurosceptic and Russophilic stances.
Tudor Panțîru is a Moldovan and Romanian judge,politician and diplomat,former President of the Constitutional Court of Moldova,and former international judge of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (2002–2021).
The official state language of Moldova is Romanian which is the native language of 82.2% of the population;it is also spoken as a primary language by other ethnic minorities. Gagauz,Russian,and Ukrainian languages are granted official regional status in Gagauzia and/or Transnistria.
The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Moldova represents the sole body of constitutional jurisdiction in the Republic of Moldova,autonomous and independent from the executive,the legislature and the judiciary.
Moldova does not recognize same-sex marriage or civil unions. The Constitution of Moldova defines marriage as being between "a husband and a wife".
An indirect presidential election was held in Moldova on 10 November 2009 and 7 December 2009,following the parliamentary election held in July 2009.
The Alliance for European Integration was a centre-right anti-communist ruling coalition in Moldova from the July 2009 election until it lost to a no confidence vote in the Parliament on February 13,2013. It was succeeded by the anti-communist Pro-European Coalition.
A nationwide referendum was held in Moldova on 5 September 2010 on whether or not the country should amend the Constitution of Moldova to return to direct popular election of the president. Since 2001,the president had been indirectly elected by Parliament,with a supermajority of 61 seats required for election. The voters are asked to answer the following question:"Would you agree with the Constitutional amendment,which would allow the election of the President of the Republic of Moldova by the entire population?" Voters chose one of the proposed options:"Yes (for)" or "No (against)". Of those who had cast their vote,87.83% chose "Yes". However,the referendum did not pass because only 30.29% of voters turned out,short of the necessary 33% for the referendum to be considered valid.
Aurel Băieşu is a Moldovan jurist and politician,former deputy to the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova and deputy chairman of the Parliamentary Commission,Appointments and Immunities from August 2009 to December 2010.
Viorica Cucereanu-Bogatu is a journalist from the Republic of Moldova. She is the Secretary of the Supervisory Board of PNAC TeleRadio-Moldova since 2009.
Maia Sandu is a Moldovan politician who has been the President of Moldova since 24 December 2020. She is the founder and former leader of the Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) and former Prime Minister of Moldova from 8 June 2019 until 14 November 2019,when the government collapsed after a vote of no-confidence. Sandu was Minister of Education from 2012 to 2015 and member of the Parliament of Moldova from 2014 to 2015,and again in 2019. Sandu was elected President of Moldova in a landslide victory during the 2020 Moldovan presidential election. The first female president of Moldova,Sandu is a strong supporter of the accession of Moldova to the European Union,overseeing Moldova's granting of candidate status,and is considered 'pro-Western'. She has criticised and opposed Russia's invasion of Ukraine and supported subsequent steps to reduce Moldova's economic dependence on Russia,frequently expressing sympathy and support for Ukraine in the conflict. Sandu has made anti-corruption,economic reform and liberalisation a central part of her political platform,as well as closer integration with Europe. In February 2023,she accused Russia of seeking to stage a coup of the Moldovan government and has continued to seek to reduce Russia's influence over the country.
Renato Usatîi is a Moldovan politician and businessman serving as President of Our Party since 8 February 2015. He is the current mayor of Bălți after previously holding the office from July 2015 to February 2018.
Events in the year 2017 in Moldova.
Snap parliamentary elections were held in Moldova on 11 July 2021. Following the resignation of Ion Chicu,the position of Prime Minister became vacant,with the Parliament being obligated to form a new government within three months. After the expiration of the constitutionally mandated period and two failed attempts to win parliamentary approval for the proposed cabinets,the Constitutional Court ruled on 15 April that the circumstances justifying a dissolution of the parliament were met. President Maia Sandu signed the decree dissolving the Parliament on 28 April and snap parliamentary elections were called on.
In mid-2019,a sequence of events following the 2019 Moldovan parliamentary election –and the subsequent attempts to form and install a new government,culminated in the positions of Prime Minister and Speaker of the Parliament,as well as the powers and duties of the President,being claimed by competing individuals.
Events from the year 2021 in Moldova.
