Having thrown off the heavy historical burden of prolonged Russian and Soviet domination, since 1991 the Republic of Moldova has been seeking its own path as a "second Romanian state". Russia does not want to allow such a thing.
Since the beginning of the Russian war against Ukraine in February 2022, Moldova has increasingly come into the focus of public attention. At the beginning of 2022, it looked as if Russia might soon attack this country as well. The possible occupation of Moldova, which would be difficult to defend, would present Ukraine with a new front, and Russia would have the opportunity to reach the southeastern border of NATO and the EU.
For this reason, European politicians have paid unprecedented attention to Moldova. In June 2022, together with Ukraine, it received the status of a candidate for EU membership. Military support for the country, including from Germany, was not long in coming. And on August 27, 2025, Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, and his Polish counterpart Donald Tusk visited Moldova.
Moldova, which declared its independence on August 27, 1991, still remains largely unknown to many. Why is the official language in the Republic of Moldova Romanian? What is the conflict in Transnistria about? And who are the Gagauz? Here are the answers to some of the most important questions.
How Moldova Became an Independent Country
Most of the territory of present-day Moldova - between the Dniester and Prut rivers - belonged to the former Principality of Moldova. The historical name of this territory is Bessarabia and comes from the medieval Basarab dynasty.
In 1812, Russia annexed the territory and until 1917 it was part of the Russian Empire. At the end of 1917, the Republic of Moldova was proclaimed, independent of Russia. A year later, it announced its accession to Romania. As a result of the pact between Hitler and Stalin, in 1940, Stalin annexed Bessarabia again and turned it into a Soviet republic, along with parts of the already existing Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Republic on the east bank of the Dniester. On August 27, 1991, a few days after the coup against Gorbachev in Moscow, it declared its independence.
Moldova or the Republic of Moldova?
The name “Moldova“ is not used today because it reminds of the Soviet name for the republic and the repressions, deportations and mass murders during Stalin's time.
Moldovan or Romanian language?
The population of Moldova is about 3.4 million people. They speak a dialect of the Romanian language. The largest minority group in the country is the Ukrainians, followed by Gagauz, Russians, Bulgarians and Roma. Small groups of Poles and Germans also live in Moldova.
Moldovan is not recognized as a separate language. However, until 2023, the administrative language in the country was mentioned as “Moldovan“ in the constitution. Some of Moldova's former heads of state emphasized that they spoke Moldovan, not Romanian. However, back in 2013, the country's Constitutional Court ruled that the name of the language was Romanian.
After the declaration of independence in 1991, Russian dominated public conversation in cities and many regions of the country, while Romanian was considered more unofficial. There is no discrimination against Russian speakers and has never been. Although proficiency in Romanian is mandatory for civil servants and for some professions in the public sector, some still do not fulfill this requirement. However, the Moldovan state does not impose sanctions and offers free Romanian language courses.
What is the conflict in Transnistria?
In the years between 1989 and 1991, a serious national movement related to Romanian roots arose in the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic. During this period, two wings of the communist party emerged - the reformers insisted on a return to the old identity, while the others remained loyal to Moscow. It was they who imposed a separatist regime in Transnistria even before Moldova declared independence, arguing with accusations of discrimination against Russian speakers and disagreement with a possible accession to Romania.
When in the spring of 1992 the army and security forces of the Republic of Moldova tried to overthrow the separatists from power, Russian military forces, stationed in Transnistria since Soviet times, intervened. Thus, Russia began its first post-Soviet war against an independent state.
The fighting stopped in the summer of 1992, and after the ceasefire in Transnistria, a dictatorship-like regime was imposed, which is still not recognized by the international community, including Russia. It is organized and governed politically and economically by former and some still active Russian officers from the services.
Until recently, the regime was mainly financed by Russian gas supplies, paid for by the Republic of Moldova. However, after their almost complete cessation from the beginning of 2025, the future of the region is uncertain.
Although Moldovans are the majority of the population in Transnistria, the only language spoken there is Russian. Writing in the Latin alphabet is prohibited in Transnistria.
Who are the Gagauz?
The Gagauz are a Turkic-speaking group of Orthodox Christians, numbering about 200,000. Nearly 150,000 of them live in southern Moldova, where they migrated in the 18th and 19th centuries from lands in present-day Bulgaria. After the declaration of independence in Moldova in 1991, there were also a number of aspirations for secession among their representatives, which were interrupted by the guarantee of autonomous status in 1994. Autonomy gives great rights to local authorities - only with regard to the foreign policy, security and currency policy of Gagauzia are decisions made by the central government in Chisinau.
Although the Gagauz were victims of Russian and Soviet policies of assimilation and repression, today the majority of them speak Russian and are pro-Russian, which also leads to conflicts with the central government of Moldova.
For decades, the import of Russian gas and the export of agricultural products to Russia were the levers through which the Kremlin dictated the policy of the Republic of Moldova. However, these opportunities no longer exist, as the country has economically distanced itself from Moscow.
In recent years, Russia has intensified its hybrid and propaganda war through pro-Russian parties and politicians such as Ilan Shor. The disputed results of the referendum on EU integration in the fall of 2024 demonstrated how successful Russia is in these methods of influence.
Will Moldova and Romania unite?
About 860,000 Moldovans also have Romanian citizenship - a quarter of the entire population - among them is President Maia Sandu. The main reason for this is the freedom to travel and work within the European Union. However, Moldova's accession to Romania is not on the agenda. According to a poll this year, about 60% of the country's citizens are against it.
In Romania, there is a widespread sense of cultural superiority over Moldovans, and in the Republic of Moldova, the memory of the times of Greater Romania, when Bessarabia was considered a backward province and a place where civil servants were transferred as punishment, is still preserved. But due to their common history, culture and language, the paths of the two countries will increasingly converge in the future - whether this will lead to unification in the long term is unclear.