After achieving independence from the Soviet Union,the Republic of Moldova established relations with other European countries. A course for European Union integration and neutrality define the country's foreign policy guidelines.
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.
The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991,and is its legal successor. It covers an area of 20,368,759 km2 (7,864,422 sq mi) and has an estimated population of 239,796,010. The CIS encourages cooperation in economic,political,and military affairs and has certain powers relating to the coordination of trade,finance,lawmaking,and security,including cross-border crime prevention.
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 In 2013,the Constitutional Court of Moldova interpreted that Article 13 of the constitution is superseded by the Declaration of Independence,thus giving official status to the name Romanian.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.
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.
Vladimir Voronin is a Moldovan politician. He was the third President of Moldova from 2001 until 2009 and has been the leader of the Party of Communists of Moldova (PCRM) since 1994. He was Europe's first democratically elected communist party head of state after the dissolution of the Eastern Bloc.
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 holds Eurosceptic and Russophilic stances.
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).
Dorin Chirtoacă is a Moldovan politician who served as Mayor of Chișinău from 2007 to 2018. He has been leader of Liberal Party (PL) since 2018.
Mihai Ghimpu is a Moldovan politician who served as President of the Moldovan Parliament and Acting President of Moldova from 2009 to 2010. He was member of Parliament of Moldova from 1990 to 1998 and from 2009 to 2019. Ghimpu held the position of leader of Liberal Party (PL) from 1998 to 2018.
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.
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.
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.
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 government in Moldova has in recent years taken several steps to fight corruption,including law enforcement and institutional setups. The prosecution of officials who are involved in corruption has also increased in recent years. However,businesses consider corruption a serious problem for doing business,and the business environment continues to be one of the most challenging in the region.
Ilan Shor is an Israeli-born Moldovan pro-Russian oligarch and politician. In 2014,Shor "masterminded" a scam that saw US$1 billion disappear from Moldovan banks,resulting in a total loss equivalent to 12% of Moldova's GDP and the arrest of former Prime Minister Vlad Filat. In June 2017,he was sentenced to 7.5 years of prison in absentia for fraud and money laundering and on 14 April 2023 his sentence was increased to 15 years. All of Shor's Moldovan assets were also frozen. After spending time under house arrest he fled to Israel in 2019,where he lived until 2024. He currently lives in Russia,a country whose citizenship he received in 2024.
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.
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.
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.
