In 2005, Moldova and EU established an action plan that sought to improve the collaboration between the two neighboring structures. After the Transnistria War, Moldova sought a peaceful resolution to the Transnistria conflict by working with Romania, Ukraine, and Russia, calling for international mediation, and cooperating with the OSCE and UN fact-finding and observer missions.[1]
Overview
List of countries which Moldova maintains diplomatic relations with:
Moldova aspires to join the European Union[13] and is implementing its first three-year Action Plan within the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) of the EU.[14]
As regards to its energy policy, Moldova was an observer to the treaty establishing Energy Community from the outset (2006). Following its interest in full membership, the European Commission was mandated to carry out negotiations with Moldova in 2007. In December 2009, the Energy Community Ministerial Council decided on the accession, but made it conditional to amendment of Moldova's gas law.[15] Moldova joined the Energy Community as a full-fledged member in March 2010.[16]
The Moldovan Parliament approved the country's membership in the Commonwealth of Independent States and the CIS charter on economic union in April 1994. Moldova however has never participated in any military aspects of CIS, citing its neutral status.
In 1998, Moldova contributed to the founding of GUAM, a regional cooperation agreement made up of Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova. Although the agreement initially included a declaration of mutual defense, Moldova has since declared its disinterest in participating in any GUAM-based mutual defense initiative.
Russia continues to maintain a military presence in the Transnistrian region of Moldova, despite previous agreements with Moldova and within OSCE and CAF to withdraw its troops and ammunition.
Moldova was granted Observer Status in the Russian-led Eurasian Union in April 2017.[17]
The territory of Moldova includes the separatist Transnistria region. Transnistria had a particularly large non-Moldovan population (about 60%) and broke away from Moldova less than a year after Moldova became independent at the fall of the Soviet Union. The Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic controls main part of this region, and also the city of Bender and its surrounding localities on the west bank. The international diplomatic situation with respect to the question of Transnistria determines and is determined by Moldova's relations with Russia. Russia, Ukraine, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, EU, and United States are involved at different degrees in the conflict resolution.
Relations with the United Kingdom
On 20 November 2024, Moldova and the United Kingdom signed a Defence and Security Partnership.[18]
The United States recognized the independence of Moldova on 25 December 1991, and opened an embassy in its capital, Chișinău, in March 1992. A trade agreement providing reciprocal most-favored-nation tariff treatment became effective in July 1992. An Overseas Private Investment Corporation agreement, which encourages U.S. private investment by providing direct loans and loan guarantees, was signed in June 1992. A bilateral investment treaty was signed in April 1993. A generalized system of preferences status was granted in August 1995, and some Eximbank coverage became available in November 1995.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry made a visit to Moldova in December 2013 to support the former Soviet republic's pro-Western moves in the face of Russian pressure.
The United States remains committed to the 5+2 format as a means to resolving the Transnistria conflict. The United States supports a comprehensive settlement that affirms Moldova's sovereignty and territorial integrity, while providing a special status for Transnistria.
Speaking in Comrat in August 2018 when referencing the country's allies, President Igor Dodon said "we have friends who are close to Gagauzia, and I believe to Moldova, as well, they are Russia and Turkey."[26]
Diplomatic relations between Belarus and Moldova were established on 19 November 1992. That same year, an agreement on friendly relations and cooperation between the two countries was signed.
Belarus has an embassy in Chișinău (opened in May 1995).
Moldova has an embassy in Minsk (opened in October 1993).
Moldova's relations with its western neighbour, Romania, have been stressed since 1994. Today's Moldova (without Transnistria) and parts of the old Bassarabia Governorate currently in Ukraine, were part of Romania during the interwar period (1918–40). Linguists generally agree that the Moldovan language is in fact identical with Romanian.[citation needed] However, Moldovans have been ambivalent about whether they consider themselves Romanians or Moldovans. Early signs that Romania and Moldova might unite after both countries achieved emancipation from communist rule quickly faded. Romania remains interested in Moldovan affairs, especially that country's civil conflict with the breakaway republic of Transnistria. However, the two countries have been unable to reach agreement on a basic bilateral treaty; Romania is insistent (against determined Moldovan resistance) that such a treaty would have to refer to Romania and Moldova's 'special relationship'. Beginning in 1994, the two countries enjoyed a visa-free arrangement that ended on 1 January 2007, with Romania's entry into the European Union. This prompted many Moldovan citizens to apply for Romanian citizenship.[39]
Moldova has an embassy in Bucharest and a consulate-general in Iași. .
Romania has an embassy in Chișinău and consulates-general in Bălți and Cahul.
Relations between Moldova and Russia deteriorated in November 2003 over a Russian proposal for the solution of the Transnistria conflict, which Moldovan authorities refused to accept. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, Moldova adopted a more cautious and critical stance toward Russia, condemning the aggression and aligning more closely with the European Union.
Moldovan stamp commemorating membership in the United Nations
Moldovan stamp commemorating membership in the OSCE
References
↑ Ejova, Cristina, and Anastasia Eșanu. "Public diplomacy of the European Union and its reflection in the Republic of Moldova." Moldoscopie 92.1 (2021): 43-53.
↑ "Political and Diplomatic relations". Embassy of the Republic of Moldova to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Archived from the original on 1 August 2023. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
↑ Diplomat Magazine (1 December 2015). "Moldova". Diplomat Magazine. Archived from the original on 13 May 2025. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
Baltag, Dorina. "EU external representation post-Lisbon: the performance of EU diplomacy in Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine." The Hague Journal of Diplomacy 13.1 (2018): 75-96. online
Baltag, Dorina. "Practice and performance: EU diplomacy in Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus after the inauguration of the European External Action Service, 2010–2015" (Diss. Loughborough University, 2018.) online
Cozma, Artur. "The Diplomacy of the Republic of Moldova during 1944-2001." (2007). onlineArchived 9 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine
Del Medico, Nicola. "A Black Knight in the Eastern Neighbourhood? Russia and EU Democracy Promotion in Armenia and Moldova." (EU Diplomacy Paper No. 7) (2014). online
Ejova, Cristina, and Anastasia Eșanu. "Public diplomacy of the European Union and its reflection in the Republic of Moldova." Moldoscopie 92.1 (2021): 43-53. online
Löwenhardt, John. "The OSCE, Moldova and Russian diplomacy in 2003." Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics 20.4 (2004): 103-112.
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