The history of Moldova spans prehistoric cultures,ancient and medieval empires,and periods of foreign rule and modern independence.
The politics of Moldova take place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic,wherein the prime minister is the head of the Government of Moldova,and a multi-party system. The President of Moldova has no important powers. The government exercises executive power while the legislative power is vested in the Parliament. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The position of the breakaway region of Transnistria,relations with Romania and with Russia,and integration into the EU dominate political discussions.
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 (12,928 sq mi) and has a population of approximately 2.42 million as of January 2024. 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.
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 In 2013,the Constitutional Court of Moldova interpreted that Article 13 of the constitution is superseded by the Declaration of Independence,thus giving official status to the name Romanian.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 2023,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.
Transnistria,officially known as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic and locally as Pridnestrovie,is a breakaway state internationally recognized as part of Moldova. It controls most of the narrow strip of land between the Dniester river and the Moldova–Ukraine border,as well as some land on the other side of the river's bank. Its capital and largest city is Tiraspol. Transnistria is officially designated by the Republic of Moldova as the Administrative-Territorial Units of the Left Bank of the Dniester or as Stînga Nistrului.
Gagauzia or Gagauz-Yeri,officially the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia (ATUG),is an autonomous territorial unit of Moldova. Its autonomy is intended for the local Gagauz people,a Turkic-speaking,primarily Orthodox Christian ethnic group.
Vasile Tarlev is a Moldovan politician.
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 Parliament of Moldova is the supreme representative body of the Republic of Moldova,the only state legislative authority,being a unicameral structure composed of 101 elected MPs on lists,for a period or legislature of four years. The Parliament of Moldova is elected by universal vote,equal directly,secret and freely expressed. The president of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova is elected by the Parliament,with a minimum of 52 votes.
Relations between the European Union (EU) and Moldova are currently shaped via the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP),an EU foreign policy instrument dealing with countries bordering its member states.
There are currently nine states recognized as candidates for membership of the European Union:Albania,Bosnia and Herzegovina,Georgia,Moldova,Montenegro,North Macedonia,Serbia,Turkey,and Ukraine. Kosovo formally submitted its application for membership in 2022 and is considered a potential candidate by the European Union. Due to multiple factors,talks with Turkey are at an effective standstill since December 2016.
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.
Dumitru Diacov is a Moldovan politician,former President of the Moldovan Parliament,member of the Parliament of Moldova in several consecutive terms since the year 2005 and formerly between 1994 and 2001. He was former leader of the Democratic Party of Moldova. In 2009,he gives to Marian Lupu the function of party chairman.
Valeriu Ghilețchi is a Moldovan Baptist clergyman and politician.
Alexandr Stoianoglo is a Moldovan former prosecutor and politician.
Maia Sandu is a Moldovan politician who has been the sixth and current 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.
Irina Vlah is a Moldovan Gagauzian politician,who served as Head of the autonomous region of Gagauzia since 2015 to 2023. Previously,she served as member of the Moldovan Parliament from 2005 to 2015.
The accession of Moldova to the European Union (EU) is on the current agenda for future enlargement of the EU.
Ion Chicu is a Moldovan economist and politician who served as Prime Minister of Moldova between 2019 until his resignation in 2020.
Igor Grosu is a Moldovan politician who is the President of the Parliament of Moldova since 29 July 2021. He has been a member of the Moldovan Parliament since March 2019. Grosu has been the leader of the Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) since 9 December 2020.
