Moldovan or 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 In 2013,the Constitutional Court of Moldova interpreted that Article 13 of the constitution is superseded by the Declaration of Independence,thus giving official status to the name Romanian.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 "Moldavian" as one of its official languages,alongside Russian and Ukrainian. Ukraine also continued until recently 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 November,the Ministry of Education and Science of the Ukrainian government stated that it has initiated steps to abolish the Moldovan language and to replace it with Romanian. On 13 January 2024,Ukrainian newspaper Dumska reported that the Ukrainian Ministry of Education and Science had announced all 16 schools in Odesa Oblast teaching "Moldovan" had dropped the term in favor of Romanian. 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.
The European Social Democratic Party is a centre-left,populist social-democratic political party in Moldova. Established in 1997,the party holds pro-European views,and is an associate member of the Party of European Socialists (PES) and a full member of the Socialist International. According to its statute,the PSDE pleads that Moldova is an independent,sovereign,and democratic state,based on law,and integrated in the united family of European democracies. Reflecting former leader Marian Lupu's views,but also the strong influence of the Moldovan Orthodox Church,the party is more conservative on social issues,such as LGBT rights.
The unification of Moldova and Romania is a popular concept and hypothetical unification in the two countries that began during the Revolutions of 1989. The Romanian Revolution in 1989 and the independence of Moldova in 1991 further contributed to the development of a movement for the unification of the two Romanian-speaking countries. The question of reunification is recurrent in the public sphere of the two countries,often as a speculation,both as a goal and a danger. Though historically Romanian support for unification was high,a March 2022 survey following the Russian invasion of Ukraine indicated that only 11% of Romania's population supports an immediate union,while over 42% think it is not the right moment.
Serafim Urechean is a Moldovan politician. He held the position of general mayor of Chișinău municipality (1994–2005) and interim prime minister of the Republic of Moldova. He was the chairman of the party Our Moldova Alliance (2003–2011),first deputy chairman of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova (2009–2010) and president of the Court of Accounts of the Republic of Moldova (2011–2016).
Dumitru Braghiș is a Moldovan politician,diplomat and economist. He is the current Moldovan Ambassador to China and Vietnam,appointed in mid-2020. He was the Prime Minister of Moldova from 1999 until 2001. Then,he was a member of the Parliament of Moldova,where he represented the Party Alliance Our Moldova. He was chairman of the Party of Social Democracy and deputy in the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova (2005–2009).
Liberal Party is a conservative-liberal political party in Moldova. The president of the party is the former Mayor of Chișinău,Dorin Chirtoacă.
The Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova is a democratic socialist political party in Moldova. A populist party,it holds Eurosceptic and Russophilic views,both of which are reflected by its long-time former leader Igor Dodon. It is contrasted to like-minded centre-left European parties for its conservative views on social issues,reflecting the country's strong social conservatism and the influence of the Moldovan Orthodox Church.
Igor Dodon is a Moldovan politician who previously served as the President of Moldova from 23 December 2016 to 24 December 2020. He currently serves as the leader of the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova. He served as Minister of Economy and Trade in the governments of Vasile Tarlev and Zinaida Greceanîi from September 2006 to September 2009 and was a member of the Parliament of Moldova from 2009 to 2016. He lost his bid for re-election in 2020 to Maia Sandu,whom he had defeated four years earlier in the 2016 Moldovan presidential election.
Vladimir Plahotniuc,commonly referred to as Vlad Plahotniuc,is a Moldovan politician,businessman and oligarch. He was the chairman of the Democratic Party of Moldova and previously was a member of the Parliament of Moldova for three terms,and served as First Vice President of the Parliament of Moldova. Until leaving the territory of the Republic of Moldova in 2019,he was considered to be the powerhouse of Moldovan politics in matters of influence,controlling Moldova's government and parliamentary majority. Since fleeing Moldova in June 2019,Plahotniuc has resided in Turkey.
Monica Babuc is a politician and historian from the Republic of Moldova,who was Minister of Culture of the Republic of Moldova in four consecutive cabinets from 2013 to 2019.
Andrian Candu is a former Moldovan politician,who served as President of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova between 2015 and 2019. He left political life and went back to consultancy business,being focused on advisory and business project development,where previously he has built a successful career. Candu served as Vice President of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova from 30 May 2013 to 11 July 2014,Deputy Prime Minister,Minister of Economy of the Republic of Moldova from 2 July 2014 –23 January 2015,President of the Parliament Of the Republic of Moldova between 23 January 2015 –24 February 2019,deputy of the PDM faction in the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova in 3 consecutive legislatures:24 December 2010 –11 July 2014,9 December 2014 - 9 March 2019,9 March 2019 –19 February 2020. On 20 February 2020,together with five Members of the Parliament,Andrian Candu formed the Pro Moldova Parliamentary Group,which was later registered as a political party,which he chaired for 1.5 years.
The Filip Cabinet was the Cabinet of Moldova led by Pavel Filip from January 2016 to June 2019.
Andrei Năstase is a Moldovan politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Internal Affairs from 8 June 2019 to 12 November 2019. He was also a member of Parliament of Moldova in 2019. Năstase was the leader of the Dignity and Truth Platform from 2015 to 2021.
Vladimir Cebotari is a Moldovan jurist and politician,who since 30 July 2015 was the Minister of Justice of the Republic of Moldova in the StrelețCabinet. Previously,he was Deputy Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure (Moldova) from June 2013 to April 2015,and then,general director of the State Enterprise "Calea Feratădin Moldova" in April–July 2015.
The Modern Democratic Party is a centre-right political party of the Republic of Moldova. It was founded and led by Andrian Candu,the former President of the Moldovan Parliament,under the original name of Pro Moldova. Since 2021,the acting president is Boris Foca,who changed the party's name to the Modern Democratic Party in 2023.
George Nicolae Simion is a Romanian right-wing politician and civic activist. He is the president of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR),a Romanian political party that gained prominence after its unexpectedly strong showing in the 2020 Romanian legislative election.
Presidential elections are scheduled to be held in Moldova on 20 October 2024.
The next parliamentary elections in Moldova are to be held no later than 11 July 2025.
Presidential elections will be held in Romania on 24 November 2024. A second round will be held on 8 December 2024 if no candidate receives an absolute majority of the vote. They will be the ninth presidential elections held in post-1989 Romania. As the Romanian Constitution allows a maximum of two presidential terms,incumbent President of Romania Klaus Iohannis,first elected in 2014 and then re-elected in 2019,is not eligible for re-election. His second term will formally end in December 2024.
On 18 September 2022,protests in Moldova began in the capital city of Chișinău,demanding the resignation of the country's pro-Western government,amid an energy crisis causing rising natural gas prices and inflation,caused in part by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
