The Republic of Moldova is a landlocked country in southeastern
Europe. It borders Romania to the west. To the north, east and
south, the Republic of Moldova is completely surrounded by Ukraine,
because between Moldova and the Black Sea lies the Ukrainian region
of Budjak, which was separated from Bessarabia.
Historically,
the territory belonged to the Principality of Moldova from the
founding of this state, to the Russian Empire from 1812, to Romania
after the First World War, and to the Soviet Union from 1940. The
Republic of Moldova has existed as an independent state since 1991,
when the Moldavian SSR declared itself independent during the
dissolution of the Soviet Union. Since then, the Transnistria
conflict has significantly hampered the political development of the
state; the Transnistria region is not under the control of the
Moldovan government. Moldova has been a candidate for EU accession
since June 23, 2022.
Gagauzia
Transnistria (unrecognized republic not
controlled by Moldova)
Chisinau - the capital of
the state
Balti
Orhei
magpies
Ungheni
Comrat
Ceadir-Lunga
For tourist entry for up to 90 days, an identity card is sufficient
for all Europeans, former CIS citizens and Turks. Citizens of 102
countries (no Africans, a few Asians) and all third-country nationals
who have a valid EU permanent residence permit are allowed to enter the
country without a visa with a passport.
Customs
Valuta cash is
subject to declaration from 10,000€, import of local currency is limited
to 2,500 MDL cash.
Duty free quantities
200 cigarettes or 50
cigars
2 liters of liquor or wine and 5 liters of beer
Gifts up to
a maximum of €200
Pets
Pets require a health certificate with
a certified rabies vaccination and proof of the titer, which was tested
no earlier than 30 days after vaccination. At the time of entry, the
latter examination must not have been carried out more than 90 days ago.
Entry is only permitted at certain, larger border posts. Details,
including food imports, are available from ANSA.
By plane
The
main airport is Chisinau International Airport (IATA: KIV)
By
train
Moldovan night trains run from Bucharest and require
reservations. The trains are quite comfortable and have a bar. The
tickets are collected by the conductors at the start of the journey and
are returned - theoretically only occasionally - when you arrive in
Chișinău.
There are direct trains to Moscow, Kiev and Odessa.
By bus
From the Romanian city of Iași you can travel to Chișinău
by minibus. Several buses run daily from Bucharest to Chișinău.
There are long-distance bus connections from most major Eastern European
cities, Prague and Vienna.
On the street
From southern
Germany, Switzerland and Austria, it is best to travel via the
Vienna-Budapest-Romania route to the Albița (RO) ↔ Leuseni (MD) border
crossing (46° 47′ 31″ N 28° 9′ 16″ E), or at Ungheni . From northern
Germany you can also travel to Moldova via Krakow and Lemberg (UA).
However, there can be very long waiting times at the border between
Poland and Ukraine
There is an overview of all land border crossings
with a map.
Hourly waiting times at the border crossings should
be planned for, but it can also be done quickly and easily. Self-drivers
require the green insurance card. Vehicles that are not registered in
the Republic of Moldova require a vignette for the entire road network.
They are available online, in Moldova Agroindbank branches or, more
conveniently, through vending machines set up at gas stations. “In the
event of a traffic accident, you can expect a ban on leaving the country
for 30 days.”
There are numerous checkpoints along routes leading
into or out of Transnistria.
There is a ban on driving while
driving, i.e. 0.0‰.
By boat
Moldova is a landlocked country,
so there is no possibility of arriving by boat. Danube cruise ships
occasionally dock in the Moldovan free port of Giurgiulești on the
Danube.
The cheapest taxi rides can be ordered via 14999, 14007, 14222,
14448, 14090. However, it can take a while for the taxi to arrive.
Minibuses run in every direction in the country. You are often
approached by private taxi drivers, which are not necessarily the worst
alternative (especially if you speak little or no Russian) if you want
to go to Tiraspol, as they can mediate a little at the border and you
may not be quite as strong being ripped off. However, private taxis are
also more expensive than regular taxis.
Train
Calea Ferată din
Moldova: Booking portal There are few domestic trains. Children's
discount about 30%.
Border traffic to Transnistria
The easiest
and cheapest way to get to Transnistria is by train or marshrutka
(minibus). The single trip costs 36.5 MDL and clearance at the border is
then carried out using “mass clearance”. This means that the border
guards don't bother with you as much because at some point the bus wants
to move on and the next one is already waiting. There are several
marshrutki every hour from Chișinău to Tiraspol and vice versa. When you
enter the country you receive a “migration card” (a piece of paper),
which is collected again when you leave.
The only official language is Moldovan, which is practically
indistinguishable from Romanian. In the country itself, someone
considers Moldovan a separate language (usually these are pro-Russian
people), and someone, on the contrary, considers Moldovan atavism of the
Soviet era, when it was invented artificially in order to alienate
Romanians and Romania. This alienation was reduced mainly to writing
Romanian words in Cyrillic, and in this form Moldovan is now preserved
in Transnistria, while the rest of Moldova returned to the Latin
alphabet.
The Russian language is also widely spoken, but does
not have any official status in the country. The majority of the
population understands Russian, although young people and residents of
remote villages sometimes speak it with great difficulty or even
hesitate to speak it at all. Rarely, it can happen that they refuse to
speak Russian with you at all for ideological reasons. Those who speak
English among ordinary citizens and service personnel are rare, mostly
young people.
In fact, independent Transnistria has three
official languages: Moldovan in Cyrillic, Russian and Ukrainian.
Autonomous, but belonging to Moldova, Gagauzia also has three official
languages: Russian, Moldovan in Latin and Gagauz. The latter is written
in Latin and belongs to the Turkic group. In fact, the language of
interethnic communication is Russian, but not everyone speaks
Moldovan/Romanian, especially in Transnistria.
Residents of
Moldova usually know at least two languages. The study of Spanish,
Italian, French and Portuguese is popular, since Moldovan/Romanian is
part of the same Romance language family, and many citizens of Moldova
are working in their respective countries.
The country's currency is the Moldovan leu (MDL), which looks very
different from the Romanian leu and most other currencies. All banknotes
are small and at the first meeting they seem to be an attribute of some
board game, and not real banknotes. In Pridnestrovie, their money is the
PMR rubles, Moldovan lei are not accepted for payment there.
As
of mid-2022, the exchange rate is about 19 Moldovan lei per dollar or
euro. Most often, lei are found in banknotes with denominations from 1
to 100 lei, there are also larger denominations of 200, 500 and 1000
lei. Small ones, on the contrary, are gradually being replaced by coins
of 1, 2, 5 and 10 lei. Sometimes you will also encounter small silver
coins of 10, 20 and 50 bani (a hundredth of a lei).
Currency
exchange is not a problem. Exchangers are everywhere, they work 7 days a
week from morning to evening, they accept dollars, euros, Russian
rubles, Ukrainian hryvnias, Romanian lei. The course, with rare
exceptions, is fair, but it is better to be on the lookout and choose
places with the inscription Faro Commission (no commission).
Bank
cards are accepted for payment in most shops and cafes, but you will
need cash to buy something like bus tickets. There are ATMs in every
city, but there are not many cities in the country, so do not leave
Chisinau without a sufficient supply of cash.
The official language is Romanian, but is also referred to as
“Moldovan”.
With English you can get a little further, especially
in Chișinău. Russian language skills can therefore be very helpful, as
Russian is ubiquitous and spoken by most people (especially in cities).
A Moldovan specialty is hearty cabbage à la Babette
The
chronology of Moldova includes various historical periods, on this
territory there were and lived such peoples as: the Turks, the Tatars,
the Greeks, the Slavs, the Bulgarians and others. The peoples influenced
both the history and traditions of the country's cuisine.
The
dishes prepared according to the traditional recipes are:
Mămăligă – the second bread on the table of Moldovans. This is a mixture
of the cornmeal prepared in the slow cooker. It is usually served with
sheep's cheese or quark. Side dishes include sour cream, vegetable
ragout, roast meat or fried fish.
Cabbage wraps wrapped in grape
leaves - much smaller than Turkish cabbage rolls. During fasting, the
filling varies from traditional rice with meat to buckwheat and various
groats with stewed vegetables.
Sama, the soup usually made from
homemade noodles.
Going out at night is a good idea if you keep an eye on your wallet. There are many restaurants, bars, discos, nightclubs and casinos.
You can stay cheaply in hostels in the capitals Chișinău and
Tiraspol.
Agencies provide complete, furnished apartments (also for 1
to 2 days). The apartments are usually reasonably well equipped with a
kitchen, bathroom, 1 or 2 additional rooms and beds, so that 4 to 5
people could easily stay there overnight. The costs start at €30 per
night. Most of the time, these apartments are not particularly centrally
located and not necessarily in the best areas of the city, which is why
if you want to come back later in the evening, taking a taxi directly
there is probably the best thing.
For work or permanent residence permits (Permis de sedere), an employment contract, certificate of good conduct and a medical examination are required. All documents must be in Romanian translation. Since April 1, 2019, insurance is compulsory with the statutory health insurance company (AOAM). Their contributions can be paid at post offices.
Uniform emergency number: ☎ 112, or
Fire department: 901
Police: 902
Emergency doctor: 903
Some taxi drivers warn you
to take good care of your belongings, as Western foreigners are
attractive to pickpockets. Otherwise you can move around normally and
freely.
Penalties for drug offenses are severe.
There is no infrastructure suitable for disabled people, not even in public facilities.
Since 2021 there is no longer daylight saving time.
You should
be more cautious. Tourists are rare and therefore conspicuous.
Foreign representations are in Chișinău.
Telephone calls from the Republic of Moldova to the Transnistrian
part of the country are possible, the area code is 1600373.
Cell
phone numbers start with a 6.
The following mobile phone
providers are available:
Moldcell
Orange, formerly Voxtel
Unite
They all offer prepaid cards. These cards are called Alocard
(Moldcell) and Orange (PrePay). Various data packages can be added from
the credit. Orange is a little more expensive. Registration is not
necessary!
For German Telekom, Moldova is in “Country Group 2,”
with a rate of 99¢ per minute and 29¢ per SMS. At Vodafone you are in
“Europe 2” minute rate of 1.82 (to Germany), 2.18€ (others) and 29¢ per
SMS.
The issue of territorial integrity is quite
acute in Moldova, so if you are traveling to a country with purely
tourist purposes, name Chisinau, Orhei or Soroca as the purpose of your
trip, without advertising your intention to go to Gaguzia or
Transnistria. This is especially true for Russian citizens, whom
Moldovan border guards often treat with suspicion.
By European
standards, Moldova has very poor roads and very little street lighting.
This problem equally affects motorists and pedestrians: both of them run
the risk of falling into a hole in the dark, damaging either themselves
or the car.
The international dialing code of
Moldova is +373. Country internet domain .md
Mobile connection
There are two mobile operators operating in the country: Orange and
Moldcell.
The name of the state goes back to the Moldova (Moldau; not to be confused with the Moldau in the Czech Republic), even though the current territory of the state is no longer touched by this river. The state is often referred to unofficially as "Moldova".
The history of the region of Bessarabia is often referred to as the history of the Republic of Moldova. It is disputed whether the Moldovans are a separate people and thus have their own national history or whether they are part of the Romanian ethnic group and the history of Moldova is therefore only a regional history. Politically, this identity-political conflict is reflected in the dispute between those in favor of unification with Romania and those who support the development of an independent state based on a separate Moldovan identity. The history of the Republic of Moldova is therefore not a stringent narrative, but shows the changing influences to which this region, which largely coincides with Bessarabia, was exposed. The history is also sometimes referred to as the history of Moldova.
The Latin origins of Moldova can be traced back to the period of
Roman occupation of nearby Dacia, which lay in the territory of
present-day Romania, Bulgaria and Serbia. Moldova was never part of the
Roman province of Dacia, but the Romans considered the area to be part
of Dacia or part of Sarmatia.
Between 105 and 270, a new culture
emerged from the mixing of Roman settlers and the local population, the
Daco-Roman and later Romanian culture. During the Migration Period,
various ethnic groups passed through the area and partly settled here,
including Huns, Ostrogoths and East Slavs (Antes), later
Proto-Bulgarians, Magyars, Pechenegs, Cumans and the Golden Horde
(Mongols). In the 13th century, Hungary expanded into the region and
built a series of fortifications near the River Sereth in what is now
Romania. Around 1350, the region was settled by settlers of Romanian
language and culture from the Maramureș region, whose prince Bogdan I
founded a Moldavian principality independent of Hungarian sovereignty.
Originally called Bogdania, it stretched from the Carpathians to the
Dniester River; later it was renamed Moldova, although the reason for
this name is unclear.
The Ottoman Empire had become the most important power factor in
Southeastern Europe in the 15th century. In addition, the Kingdom of
Hungary and the Kingdom of Poland also sought to expand their sphere of
influence in Southeastern Europe. The Principality of Moldavia tried to
retain as much of its independence as possible during this phase, but as
a vassal state it came under Ottoman influence.
The most
important of the late medieval Moldavian princes was Ștefan cel Mare
(Stefan the Great) (* around 1433 in Borzești; † July 2, 1504 in
Suceava), who ruled for an unusually long time at 47 years. The heyday
of the Principality of Moldavia is associated with his reign, which is
why the movement for the unification of Romania and Moldavia made it the
central memorial site of their identity politics. According to
tradition, he was a major fighter against foreign rule, fighting in 47
major battles and losing only three. At the end of his reign in 1504,
the Principality of Moldavia was largely independent and experienced a
period of economic prosperity. After his reign, disputes between the
boyars flared up again and the country experienced a gradual decline.
Weak princes allowed incompetent boyars to rule the state and refuse to
pay taxes, so that the Ottoman suzerainty subsequently expanded its
influence again, increased tribute payments and appointed local rulers.
Only when the Ottoman Empire itself was in decline were the Moldavian
princes able to regain more influence.
After the Russo-Turkish War of 1787–1792, the Ottoman Empire had to
cede all its possessions east of the Dniester to Russia in the Peace of
Jassy (now Iași). An expanded Bessarabia (named after the Wallachian
King Basarab I) was integrated into the Russian Empire after the 7th
Russo-Turkish War of 1806–1812 by the Peace of Bucharest. The area was
organized as the Bessarabia Governorate. It comprised the landscape
between the Pruth and Dniester rivers and thus roughly the eastern half
of the former Principality of Moldavia.
After Russia's defeat in
the Crimean War of 1853–1856, the Treaty of Paris stipulated that
Moldavia and Wallachia would be placed under the collective guarantee of
the 7 signatory states. Southern Bessarabia (the districts of Ismail,
Bolgrad, Cahul) went back to Moldavia. In 1859, Alexandru Ioan Cuza was
elected Prince of both Moldavia and Wallachia, laying the foundations of
a Romanian state. The Treaty of Berlin in 1878 forced the Romanian
government to return southern Bessarabia to Russia.
After the right of self-determination for all nationalities of the
Russian Empire had been declared in the course of the October Revolution
of 1917, a national council was constituted on November 21, 1917 under
the name Sfatul Țării, which proclaimed Bessarabia as the Moldavian
Democratic Republic on December 15, 1917, which was to remain an
autonomous state within a federally organized Russian Empire. However,
the unification of the Bessarabian part of the country with the Kingdom
of Romania had already been decided by a secret protocol in the 1918
peace treaties between Romania and the Central Powers. In January 1918,
Romania, which was part of the Entente, conquered Bessarabia and
expelled the troops organized in Rumcherod. Under pressure from the
occupation and in a dispute that was not only about national identities
but above all about the economic interests of the Moldovan landowners,
the Sfatul Țării declared independence from the Russian Empire on
January 24, 1918. On March 27, 1918, a majority of the council finally
voted for unification with Romania, thereby legitimizing the
incorporation of Bessarabia into Greater Romania, which had already been
effectively completed. While the Entente states recognized the vote as
legal in 1920, Soviet Russia, or from 1922 the Soviet Union, continued
to view Bessarabia as part of their territory and demanded that Romania
return it.
The area east of the Dniester was occupied by
Austria-Hungary and the German Empire during the First World War in
1917/18 and became part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic after
the end of the Russian Civil War and the founding of the Soviet Union in
December 1922. In 1924, the region was first declared the Moldavian
Autonomous Oblast, and seven months later it was elevated to the
Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (MASSR). The official
capital of the MASSR was Chișinău, which was "temporarily occupied by
Romania", so that Balta (now part of Ukraine) and then Tiraspol had to
provisionally take over the function of the seat of government until
1929. With the founding of the MASSR, the Soviet government's primary
aim was to maintain its territorial claim to all of Moldova and to this
end also declared genuinely Ukrainian areas to be Moldovan territory,
which led to the proportion of ethnic Romanians in the population
temporarily falling to as low as 30%.
From 1929, women were
allowed to take part in local elections, but women's right to vote was
made dependent on their level of education, social status and special
services to society. The 1938 Constitution gave men and women equal
voting rights, and the 1939 Electoral Law stated that women and men who
could read and write were eligible to vote from the age of 30.
The Romanian territory of Bessarabia and northern Bukovina were
occupied by Soviet troops in June 1940 with German consent as a
consequence of the secret additional protocol of the Hitler-Stalin Pact
and annexed by the USSR. On August 2, 1940, the Moldavian Soviet
Socialist Republic was established with Chișinău (Russian: Kishinev) as
its capital, by uniting Bessarabia with part of the Moldavian ASSR (the
rest went to the Ukrainian SSR). With the establishment of the Moldavian
SSR, Bessarabia was divided again, which seriously damaged its
historical and economic integrity. Several southern areas and access
routes to the Black Sea via the mouths of the Danube (near the city of
Izmail) and Dniester (near Bilhorod-Dnistrowskyj) were transferred to
Ukraine, turning the republic into a landlocked state. The shoreline on
the north bank of the Danube in the extreme south of the republic, which
is only about 600 meters long and belongs to Moldova, has been used in
recent years to build the port of Giurgiulești, so that Moldova can now
also be reached by ships, albeit of a limited size.
On June 22,
1941, German and Romanian troops attacked the Moldavian SSR and the
Ukrainian SSR as part of Operation Barbarossa. As a result, Romania was
able to regain Bessarabia and northern Bukovina in the summer of 1941.
Romania then administered the land between the Dniester and Southern Bug
rivers, north of Bar in Ukraine, as the Transnistrian Governorate.
During the Jassy-Kishinev operation (August 20 to 29, 1944), heavy
fighting took place in parts of Moldova. The German 6th Army was
encircled southwest of Kishinev and was largely destroyed.
Due to
the peace treaty of 1947, Bessarabia, the Herza region and northern
Bukovina fell to the Soviet Union. The former Soviet administrative
units and Russian place names were reintroduced.
As part of the
Sovietization of the country, around 7% of the Moldovan population were
deported to the Soviet Union in 1949/50 and deprived of their freedom
there as exiled special settlers.
Since the mid-1980s, a national movement of Romanian and Moldovan-speaking residents in the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic has developed. It gained increasing political weight, finally taking power before the collapse of the Soviet Union and played an important role in the country's declaration of independence. In 1989, Russian was therefore abolished as a second official language and the Moldovan language was declared the only state language of the MSSR. In practice, the decision was made to return to the Romanian language in Latin script (in fact, Moldovan hardly differs from Romanian, but since 1994 it has again been referred to as Moldovan in the constitution). The Ukrainian, Russian and Gagauz minorities opposed this. There were also strong efforts to unite the country with Romania.
The Moldavian SSR was initially renamed the Republic of Moldova in
1991. Shortly after the August coup in Moscow, which accelerated the
collapse of the Soviet Union, the latter declared its independence on
August 27, 1991 under the leadership of the former Secretary General of
the Supreme Soviet of Moldova, Mircea Ion Snegur. After the declaration
of independence, universal suffrage was confirmed in 1993.
The
conflicts that had existed since 1989 between the central government in
Chișinău and the predominantly ethnic minority regions of Transnistria
and Gagauzia intensified after negotiations towards reunification with
Romania were initiated immediately after Moldova gained independence in
1991.
In 1992, the conflict with Transnistria escalated into a
war with over 1,000 deaths, which ultimately ended with the de facto
independence of this part of the country. The fighting only ended with
the intervention of the Russian 14th Army stationed on Transnistrian
territory under the command of General Alexander Lebed. Since then,
Transnistria has formed a de facto regime encompassing the Moldovan
regions east of the Dniester, which tolerates an operational group of
the armed forces of the Russian Federation on its territory. Since then,
a ceasefire has existed between the two sides, and a solution to the
Transnistrian conflict is being sought at the political level.
Negotiations have so far been unsuccessful, so that both parties to the
conflict have now largely come to terms with the status quo.
In
1994, the Moldovan government offered Gagauzia an autonomous status
within the Republic of Moldova. This autonomous status was also offered
to the breakaway part of Transnistria, but this was rejected by the de
facto regime under the self-proclaimed President Igor Smirnov. Igor
Smirnov was able to reject the offer because he had the support of the
Russian Federation due to its interest in the continued stationing of
Russian army units on the territory of Transnistria. In addition, the
"Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic" was much more advanced in building
its own state structures and armed forces than the Gagauz part of the
country. In contrast to Gagauzia, Transnistria was a unified region that
was able to defend itself and enter into independent economic relations
with third countries due to its land border with Ukraine and the
Dniester water border with the territory controlled by Moldova.
In contrast to Transnistria, the Gagauzia region was successfully and
peacefully reintegrated into the Republic of Moldova in 1994. A
comprehensive autonomy agreement had previously been negotiated, which
was finally accepted by Gagauzia.
In 1997, Snegur was replaced as
president by Petru Lucinschi. The Republic of Moldova has been a member
of the GUAM alliance since 1997. In 2001, Lucinschi succeeded Vladimir
Voronin as the third President of the Republic of Moldova.
Since
November 30, 2005, there has been EUBAM, a border control mission of the
European Union on the Moldovan-Ukrainian border to prevent the smuggling
of weapons, people and drugs to and from Transnistria.
After
Voronin's resignation in 2009 and a period of acting presidents, Nicolae
Timofti was elected President of the Republic of Moldova on March 16,
2012. The European Union and Moldova signed an association agreement on
June 27, 2014, which includes a deep and comprehensive free trade area
and came into force in July 2016.
One month before the annexation
of the Crimean peninsula by Russia, a referendum was held in Gagauzia in
February 2014 that was not coordinated with the central government in
Chișinău, in which 94 percent of voters supported the Republic of
Moldova's accession to the Russian-dominated customs union. In addition,
almost 70 percent of those involved voted in favor of independence if
the Republic of Moldova lost its independence.
From December 23,
2016 to December 24, 2020, Igor Dodon of the Party of Socialists of the
Republic of Moldova (PSRM) was President of the Republic of Moldova.
The oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc, who did not hold any government
office but had been head of the co-ruling Democratic Party (PDM) since
the end of 2016, lost his previously great influence on Moldovan
politics and economy with the lost parliamentary election in February
2019 and subsequently fled abroad. On June 9, 2019, the Constitutional
Court temporarily suspended President Dodon from office and appointed
the previous head of government, Pavel Filip, as interim president.
Dodon ultimately lost his office in the presidential election on
November 15, 2020, and his successor in office is the pro-European
politician and economist Maia Sandu
At the end of September 2021,
a gas supply contract between Moldova and Gazprom expired. Gazprom
demanded a very high gas price; Moldova declared a state of emergency.
The conflict was resolved in early November 2021
Due to the
Russian attack on Ukraine in 2022, large numbers of refugees flocked to
Moldova; in relation to its population, the republic is the most
affected country in Europe. Many Western countries promised Moldova help
in the form of financial support, equipment and the resettlement of
refugees. For example, Austria and Liechtenstein brought around 2,500
Ukrainian refugees out of the country.
The government also closed
the country's airspace for several days and opened it only in the
direction of Romania on March 21, 2022.
In the 2024 presidential
election in the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu was re-elected President
of the Republic of Moldova. She received around 55 percent of the votes
in the second round, the runoff election. Sandu Sandu said afterwards
that Moldova had been attacked in an unprecedented way before the
election: "dirty money, illegal buying of votes, interference in the
electoral process by some hostile forces from outside and by some
criminal groups." There had been lies, incitement and the creation of
hatred and fear in Moldovan society.
The Republic of Moldova stretches over 350 kilometers north-south and
over 150 kilometers west-east, covering a total area of 33,843 square
kilometers. This makes the country one of the smaller in the world. The
core area lies between the two largest rivers, the Dniester
(Moldovan/Romanian Nistru) and the Pruth (Prut), and thus in the
historical region of Bessarabia. The north borders on the Podolian
Plateau in western Ukraine.
The southernmost point of the
Republic of Moldova is Giurgiulești, where the state has access to the
Danube on the left bank for 600 meters. The southeastern tip of the
country almost reaches - to just over two kilometers - the Dniester
Liman, the branch of the Dniester River that flows into the Black Sea. A
smaller part of the state with around 17% of the population on 12% of
the area lies east (= left) of the Dniester and split off in 1992 under
the name Transnistria as part of the Transnistria conflict.
The Prut flows into the Danube near the southern border of the
Republic of Moldova. The larger tributaries (Bîc, Răut and Botna) mostly
run parallel and drain into the Dniester.
The landscape is gently
undulating (between 30 m and 430 m) and 80% cultivated land, which is
thanks to the fertile black soil in the southern steppe. In the north
there are hilly plains with sparse oak forests and tree steppes. The
highest elevation in the Republic of Moldova is the Dealul Bălănești
(430 m). The warm, dry climate allows for large-scale wine and fruit
growing.
Native animals include deer, wild boar, hare, fox, wolf,
weasel, polecat and lynx, as well as rodents. The central part of the
state, colloquially known as Codrii ("the forests"), is predominantly
covered with oak and beech forests.
189,385.9 hectares are designated as protected areas, which
corresponds to 5.61% of the state's area (as of 2018). The first
national park in the Republic of Moldova, the 33,792.09 hectare Orhei
National Park south of Orhei, has existed since 2013. The Prutul de Jos
Biosphere Reserve on Lake Beleu, created in 2018, covers 14,771.04
hectares. A second national park, Nistrul de Jos National Park, was
established on March 31, 2022 by parliamentary decision. The area covers
61,883.99 hectares. On October 20, 2000, the Republic of Moldova joined
the Ramsar Convention, a treaty for the protection of internationally
important wetlands. The total area of the three Ramsar sites in the
state is 94,705 hectares and partially overlaps with the area of the
biosphere reserve or one of the national parks.
According to a
global study by the University of Leeds in February 2018, the Republic
of Moldova is the only country in Europe whose development is taking
place within the ecological limits.
Four national daily newspapers are published in the Republic of
Moldova. In 2017, 76.1% of Moldova's inhabitants used the Internet.
The state broadcaster Teleradio-Moldova (TRM) produces the radio
programs Radio Moldova and operates the foreign radio station Radio
Moldova Internațional (RMI). RMI produces programs in Romanian, English,
Russian, French and Spanish, which are distributed via the Internet. TRM
also broadcasts the two television programs Moldova 1 and Moldova
International (Moldova TVI).
At the beginning of 2014,
representatives of the EU and the OSCE expressed concerns about press
freedom in the Republic of Moldova. The background to this was the
sudden ban on several opposition television stations. In the 2022 press
freedom ranking published by Reporters Without Borders, the Republic of
Moldova ranked 40th ("satisfactory situation") out of 180 countries.
The folk music of the Republic of Moldova is shaped by the cultural
heritage of various peoples since the time of the Dacians and is in many
ways similar to the music of Romania, which has incorporated Slavic
elements due to its location on the edge of southeastern Europe. The
tradition within the rural culture, which has changed little over the
centuries, has given rise to independent regional styles in which
influences from Bulgarian, Hungarian, Ottoman, Ukrainian and Roma music
can be found. To this day, folk music is largely associated with
seasonal festivals and rites of passage. Another important tradition is
the music of the shepherds (ciobani), which is reflected, among other
things, in the predominance of solo singing - while choral singing is
rather rare - in the close connection between vocal and instrumental
melodies, in the use of certain musical instruments and in an epic song
tradition.
The professional folk musicians have been known as
lăutari (singular lăutar, derived from the extinct plucked lute lăută,
from Arabic al-ʿūd) since the early Middle Ages. The names of some
lăutari have been handed down since the 15th century. Their ensemble,
with which they play dance music at festivals, is called taraf and
consists of flutes (generally fluier) and violins (vioara) as the
leading melody instruments. The bent-neck lute cobsă is often added as a
rhythmic accompanying instrument. Other instruments in a taraf ensemble
are viola, double bass, cymbal (dulcimer), clarinet, nai (pan flute) and
cimpoi (bagpipe) in various configurations.
The shepherd
tradition includes the heroic epics sung solo, especially the very old
story of the sheep Miorița, which tells of the murder of a young
shepherd. Typical musical instruments of the shepherds are various
flutes, including the long flute tilincă without finger holes, as well
as the long trumpet trâmbiţă (corresponding to the Ukrainian trembita),
the bagpipe and the Jew's harp drîmbă.
The monophonic choral
songs at seasonal festivals and family celebrations include the colindă
at Christmas time and the malanca on New Year's Eve. The melodies of the
lyrical songs are heavily ornamented and, in contrast to the melodically
and rhythmically simple structured shepherd songs, have a relatively
large range of over an octave. Ceremonial and entertaining folk dances
are an essential part of the musical culture and occur in over 300 named
variations. In their form and ritual function they are related to other
regional dances in the Carpathian region and on the Balkan Peninsula.
The Bulgarian minority maintains its own folk music tradition from
its Eastern Thracian homeland, which includes antiphonal chants. Gagauz
music contains most of the elements of Ottoman music, which includes
richly ornamented complex melodies and rhythms.
Classical music
associated with the Republic of Moldova emerged at the end of the 18th
century, when elements of Moldovan folk music appeared in the operas of
Russian composers. When the eastern region of the Principality of
Moldavia became part of the Russian Empire in 1812, the influence of
Russian composers grew, some of whom settled in Chișinău. There, under
Romanian rule, the Unirea Conservatory was established in 1919, the
first higher education institution in Bessarabia, which also promoted
professional music education. The symphony orchestras founded in the
1930s had to submit to Soviet cultural policy during the socialist
period after a forced break during the Second World War. In 1955,
today's National Opera was opened in Chișinău. The previously small
ensembles were expanded to larger orchestras and the Moldovan folk music
composers were integrated into a composers' association (Uniunea
compozitorilor din Moldova) with the task of continuously producing new
songs. Folk music events and competitions in the cultural palaces spread
across the country were an integral part of the social cohesion of
Soviet cultural policy. After independence, the musical return to folk
music began. Some wanted to free the national culture from foreign
influences; others wanted to combine their own musical elements with the
innovations of the international classical music scene.
Classical
Moldovan composers were Alexandru Cristea (1890–1942), the composer of
the national anthem Limba Noastră, Ștefan Neaga (1900–1951), Vasile
Zagorschi (1926–2003), Zlata Tkach (1928–2006) and Iulia Țibulschi (*
1933). The composer Arkady Luxemburg (* 1939) has lived and worked in
California since 1995.
The cuisine of the Republic of Moldova is closely related to the cuisine of Romania (especially from the Western Moldova region). There are also influences from Russian, Greek and Turkish cuisine.
The Moldovan Football Association, founded in 1990, has laid a solid
foundation for national football. In 2006, the 10,500-seat Zimbru
Stadium was reopened, a large part of the association's resources were
invested in training young coaches, and state-wide football academies
are being set up.
The Moldovan national football team is ranked
181st in the FIFA world rankings (as of February 2022).
Moldovan
sports clubs that occasionally play in competitions at European level
are:
FC Sheriff Tiraspol (football)
FC Nistru Otaci (football)
FC Dacia Chișinău (football)
Politehnica Chișinău (football)
FC
Tiraspol (football)
Olimpus Chișinău (handball)
The National
Olympic Committee of the Republic of Moldova was founded in 1991 and was
admitted to the International Olympic Committee in 1993 under the
country code MDA. Since 1996, the Republic of Moldova has participated
in four Summer Olympic Games. The state sent 31 athletes to the 2008
Games in the People's Republic of China. In total, Moldovan athletes won
six medals at the Olympic Games.
Special Olympics Moldova was
founded in 1990 and has participated in the Special Olympics World Games
several times.
In the field of formation dancing, the Moldovan
club DSC Kodryanka Kishinev has been among the world's best for many
years. The club has won the European and World Championships several
times.
In rugby (rugby union), the national team plays in
European Championship Group B1 together with Germany, Poland, the Czech
Republic, the Netherlands and Belgium. The last two international
matches (2010) against Poland (36:25) and Ukraine (28:19) were won by a
clear margin. The Republic of Moldova is ranked 30th in the IRB
rankings. The rugby association comprises seven clubs with 2,600
registered players.
The Republic of Moldova had 2.5 million inhabitants as of January 1, 2023. The population decreased by 2.1%. A death surplus contributed to the population decline (birth rate: 12.1 per 1,000 inhabitants vs. death rate: 16.6 per 1,000 inhabitants). The number of births per woman was statistically 1.8 in 2022, compared to 1.7 in the Europe and Central Asia region. The life expectancy of Moldovans from birth was 68.6 years in 2022. The median age of the population in 2021 was 36.1 years. In 2023, 19.1 percent of the population was under 15 years old, while the proportion of people over 64 was 12.7 percent of the population.
The population of the Republic of Moldova is of different ethnic
origins: the largest group in the 2014 census (excluding Transnistria)
were the Romanian-speaking Moldovans with 82.1%, followed by Ukrainians
(6.6%), Gagauzians (4.4%), Russians (4.1%), Bulgarians (1.7%), Roma
(0.36%) and Jews (0.11%) as well as some Germans, Poles, Belarusians,
Tatars, Hungarians, etc.
Both in the entire Republic of Moldova
and to the east and west of the Dniester, the three major ethnic groups
of Moldovans, Ukrainians and Russians together make up over 91% of the
population. However, when viewed separately, the distribution is
different: while in Transnistria, 31.9% of the 555,347 inhabitants are
Moldovans (compared to 40.1% in Soviet times in 1989), 30.3% are
Russians and 28.9% are Ukrainians, in the rest of the Republic of
Moldova, Romanian Moldovans make up 82.1% (with 6.6% Ukrainians and 4.1%
Russians) of the 2,998,235 inhabitants.
The official language is Romanian. As an expression of linguistic
separatism, the government had temporarily introduced the term "Moldovan
language" into the constitution in 1994. This term had already been used
during the time of the Moldavian SSR, which, however, did not have the
status of an official language. Since 2013, the term "Moldovan language"
has no longer been officially used.
The everyday language in
Chișinău and the centers of the districts corresponds to the
Moldovan-influenced variant of Romanian (moldoveanu). There are some
neologisms borrowed from Russian, which are replaced by English or
French borrowings in the more western-oriented Romanian neighboring
state.
In the Republic of Moldova, the official holiday Limba
Noastră cea Română is celebrated every year, which commemorates August
31, 1989, the day when Romanian became the official language in the
Moldavian SSR.
From 1940/1944, the Cyrillic alphabet was
(re-)used in the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. With
the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989 and independence in 1991, the
introduction of the Latin script was finally decided (see background
information on the Moldovan language). In the region of Transnistria,
which broke away from the Republic of Moldova, Moldovan is still
officially written in Cyrillic.
Due to the long affiliation to
the Russian Empire and later to the Soviet Union, the Russian language
has a special role. Russian is present in everyday life, especially in
the larger cities and in business. However, it only has official status
as an official language in the regions of Gagauzia (alongside Gagauzian)
and Transnistria (alongside Ukrainian). According to a study from 2011,
99% of the population have knowledge of Russian, and for 16% of the
population it is their mother tongue. There are Russian-speaking
majorities in several larger cities, particularly in Bălți, where
Russian is de facto also used at an official level.
The Republic of Moldova is a predominantly Christian state. Over 90% of the population belong to various Orthodox denominations. There are also Catholic and Jewish (0.05%) minorities, and increasingly Baptists and Jehovah's Witnesses. Among the Muslims in the Republic of Moldova (around 3,000), immigrants from former Soviet republics are particularly represented.
The Republic of Moldova has a rich religious history. The
500-year-old church architecture is also an important factor for
tourism. During the period of membership in the USSR, Christian customs
were preserved alongside traditional customs and traditions, including
family customs and festivals. In the countryside, faith and traditions
are much more authentic than, for example, in the urban capital of
Chișinău.
In the years after perestroika and since independence,
many old churches, convents, rock monasteries, cathedrals and small
village churches have been rebuilt or newly founded in the Republic of
Moldova. But spiritual and church life is not running smoothly.
Historically, many foreign religions were active on Moldovan territory
and there were disputes between the Bessarabian Eparchy and the Moscow
Patriarchate that have not been resolved to this day. In 2001, the
European Court of Human Rights upheld a lawsuit by the Bessarabian
eparchy against the Republic of Moldova on the grounds of restricting
religious freedom.
The number of Russian Orthodox churches has
risen sharply from 280 to over 1,000 in the first twelve years of
independence.
Orthodox churches
Moldovan Orthodox Church is a
self-governing church of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Orthodox Church
of Bessarabia is an autonomous church of the Romanian Orthodox Church.
Ukrainian Orthodox.
Old Orthodox.
Roman Catholic Church
The
Catholic Diocese of Chișinău comprises (as of 2019) 20 parishes with
around 20,000 Catholics, who are predominantly of Polish, Romanian and
German descent. The bishop of the diocese formed in 2001 is Anton Coșa.
Judaism
Today there are still around 25,000 Jews in the Republic
of Moldova. Other estimates put the number at just 1,000 practicing
Jews. After the independence of the Republic of Moldova, many Jews
emigrated to Israel and the United States. Before the Second World War,
there was a significant Jewish population in what was then the Moldovan
Soviet Socialist Republic. The current capital, Chișinău, was also a
center of Jewish life in the Russian Empire around 1900. According to a
census from 1897, Jews made up the largest population group in the city,
accounting for 45.9%. However, there was also anti-Semitism in the
Republic of Moldova. The pogrom in Kishinev in 1904 became well known.
During the German and Romanian occupation from 1941 to 1944, large parts
of the Jewish population fell victim to the Holocaust.
In the Republic of Moldova, students belonging to minorities have the
right to be taught in their mother tongue. The income level of teachers
in schools and colleges is low. The state has numerous universities and
colleges. More than a dozen public and private colleges are located in
Chișinău, and there are also universities in Bălți, Cahul, Comrat,
Taraclia and Tiraspol.
Traditionally, the French language has a
high status in the education system of the Republic of Moldova. The
language is taught in primary school from the age of eight. A good 40%
of all secondary school students choose French as their first foreign
language. There are eight bilingual high schools throughout the country,
which take around 3,000 students up to the baccalaureate. A branch of
the Francophonie University Agency (Agence universitaire de la
Francophonie, AUF) in Chișinău supports six French-language degree
programs at several Moldovan universities (as of 2018).
The country's health expenditure in 2021 amounted to 7.8% of gross
domestic product. In 2020, there were 40.6 doctors per 10,000
inhabitants practicing in the Republic of Moldova. The mortality rate
among children under 5 was 14.2 per 1,000 live births in 2022. The life
expectancy of Moldovans from birth was 68.6 years in 2022 (women: 73.3,
men: 64.2). Life expectancy increased by 3% from 66.4 years in 2000 to
2022.
The HIV infection rate in the adult population is 0.6%.
Moldova has the highest HIV/AIDS infection rate among European
countries. In 2022, 929 new cases occurred. In recent years, there must
have been 16,000. Only 67% know about it. In 2022, 16,000 intravenous
drug addicts and 8,000 prostitutes were tested for HIV. The AIDS crisis
in Moldova is expected to be under control by 2030.
Since 1994, the Republic of Moldova has defined itself as a neutral
state.
A parliamentary election was held on February 24, 2019.
Plahotniuc and his Democratic Party were ousted from power by a
coalition government of the Socialist Party and the ACUM party bloc.
This government under Prime Minister Maia Sandu failed on November
12, 2019 in a vote of no confidence by the co-ruling Socialists, which
the Democratic Party supported.
In the presidential election in
November 2020, Maia Sandu received 57.74% of the vote. The incumbent
President Igor Dodon received 42.26% of the vote.
The President is the head of state of Moldova.
The President
of Moldova is elected by direct secret free vote of citizens. In the
period 2000-2016, the President was elected by secret ballot of members
of parliament. Following numerous protests and a request to the
Constitutional Court from a group of members, on March 4, 2016, the law
amending the Constitution, giving parliament the right to elect the
President, was declared unconstitutional.
Presidents of Moldova:
Mircea Snegur - September 3, 1990 - January 15, 1997;
Petru Lucinschi
- January 15, 1997 - April 7, 2001;
Vladimir Voronin - April 7, 2001
- September 11, 2009;
Mihai Ghimpu (acting) - September 11, 2009 -
December 28, 2010;
Vladimir Filat (acting) — from December 28 to
December 30, 2010;
Marian Lupu (acting) — from December 30, 2010 to
March 23, 2012;
Nicolae Timofti — from March 23, 2012 to December 23,
2016;
Igor Dodon — from December 23, 2016 to December 24, 2020;
Maia Sandu — current president (since December 24, 2020).
In
1990, after uncontested elections, Mircea Snegur became president of the
Soviet Socialist Republic of Moldova. He was appointed to the position
by Resolution of the Supreme Soviet of the SSR Moldova No. 251-XII of
September 3, 1990.
Mircea Snegur became president of Moldova at
the end of 1991, after nationwide presidential elections.
During
the 1996 presidential elections, Petru Lucinschi received 27.7% of the
votes, coming in second after Mircea Snegur. However, in the second
round, Lucinschi, supported by left and centrist forces, received more
votes than Snegur. As a result, Petru Lucinschi won the presidential
elections and took office on January 15, 1997.
In 2000, on the
initiative of the PCRM, the parliament adopted amendments according to
which the president of Moldova is elected by parliament by 3/5 of the
votes of the total number of deputies of parliament and after two
unsuccessful attempts to elect a president, parliament is dissolved and
repeat elections are called. After the amendments were approved,
parliament was dissolved, since it was not possible to elect a president
in parliament.
After early parliamentary elections, Vladimir
Voronin became president of Moldova. 71 deputies from the Communist
Party voted for him.
In the 2001 parliamentary elections, the
Communist Party ran under the slogans of strengthening social policy,
economic recovery, support for collective forms of farming in the
countryside, and strengthening relations with Russia, Belarus, and the
CIS as a whole. However, in November 2003, relations between Russia and
Moldova deteriorated when the Russian-prepared plan for settling the
conflict between Moldova and Transnistria, which envisaged the
federalization of Moldova, failed to be signed.
On April 4, 2005,
deputies from the Communist Party, as well as deputies from the
Christian Democratic People's Party, the Democratic Party, and the
Social Liberal Party, re-elected Vladimir Voronin as president.
Just before the elections, Vladimir Voronin met with Viktor Yushchenko
in Kyiv, and then received Georgian leader Mikhail Saakashvili in
Chisinau. This gave observers a reason to talk about the creation of a
new "triple alliance" of post-Soviet states directed against Russia.
However, Vladimir Voronin has repeatedly noted in the press that Russia
has been and remains a strategic partner of Moldova.
Having found
himself in opposition to the new government of the country, Vladimir
Voronin resigned from his post as president on September 11, 2009.
On September 5, 2010, a nationwide referendum was held to determine
the form of elections for the President of Moldova, which was declared
invalid. According to data posted on the website of the Central
Electoral Commission of the Republic, 30.98% of voters took part in it,
with a turnout threshold of 33.33%.
On March 16, 2012, deputies
from the Liberal Democratic Party, the Democratic Party, the Liberal
Party, the Party of Socialists and independent deputy Mihai Godea
elected Nicolae Timofti as president of the republic with their votes.
On November 13, 2016, in the second round of direct elections, Igor
Dodon, a candidate from the Party of Socialists, was elected president.
On November 15, 2020, President and pro-Russian candidate Igor Dodon
lost in the second round of elections to the leader of the Action and
Solidarity Party, Maia Sandu, who received 57.27% of the vote.
The highest legislative body of the country is the unicameral
parliament (101 seats).
Deputies are elected for 4 years under a
proportional system with a 4% threshold (since 2010). In 2009, the
threshold was 5%, in 2008-2009 - 6%, and before 2008 the threshold was
4%.
The first parliamentary elections after the proclamation of
Moldova's independence from the USSR in 1991 were held in 1994.
According to their results, the Agrarian Democratic Party received 56
mandates, the Socialist Party - Unity bloc - 28, the Party of Democratic
Forces - 11 mandates, and the Alliance of the Christian Democratic
Popular Front - 9 mandates. Petru Lucinschi was elected Chairman of the
Parliament.
In the 2001 elections, the Communist Party of the
Republic of Moldova (PCRM) won an overwhelming majority (71 seats). The
Braghis Alliance (19 mandates) and the CDPP (11 mandates) also entered
parliament. Eugenia Ostapciuc became the Speaker of the Parliament.
The next elections were held on March 6, 2005. The Communists won
the majority of votes (46.1%) and seats in parliament (56 out of 101)
for the second time in a row. This time, the leader of the PCRM
announced that he would focus on joining the European Union, and
intended to transform the party into a "new type of European party".
In the elections of April 5, 2009, the PCRM won again (49.48% of the
votes, 60 seats in parliament). The three opposition parties that won
seats in parliament together gained about 35% of the votes.
International observers from the OSCE called the elections "generally
free". The opposition challenged the election results, claiming that
they were falsified. On April 6, protests were organized in the center
of Chisinau. On April 7, the demonstration got out of control and turned
into riots, resulting in damage to the buildings of the Parliament and
the Presidency of Moldova. By the morning of April 8, the riots were
stopped. About 200 people were detained. Peaceful protests continued for
a week, their main demand was the release of demonstrators previously
detained by law enforcement agencies.
Opposition parties
boycotted the presidential elections, as a result of which, in
accordance with the Constitution of Moldova, the parliament was
dissolved, and repeat parliamentary elections were held on July 29,
2009. The Communist Party won a relative victory, taking 44.69% of the
votes and 48 mandates.
However, the other 4 parties that entered
parliament: the Liberal Party (15 mandates), the Democratic Party of
Moldova (13 mandates), the Liberal Democratic Party of Moldova (18
mandates) and the center-right Alliance "Our Moldova" (7 mandates),
united into the Alliance for European Integration I and formed a
parliamentary majority (53 votes out of 101).
The Party of
Communists of Moldova, led by Vladimir Voronin, went into opposition,
having failed to find allies to form a majority.
Due to the
failure to elect a president, on September 28, 2010, acting President of
Moldova Mihai Ghimpu signed a decree to dissolve parliament and called
early parliamentary elections for November 28, 2010. As a result of
these elections, 4 parties entered Parliament: the Communist Party (42
mandates), the Liberal Democratic Party (32 mandates), the Democratic
Party (15 mandates) and the Liberal Party (12 mandates). The Liberal
Democrats, Democrats and Liberals formed the parliamentary majority
"Alliance for European Integration II" (59 mandates). Marian Lupu became
the Speaker of Parliament.
In March 2012, the candidate from the
Alliance for European Integration Nicolae Timofti was elected President
of Moldova.
24 candidates participated in the parliamentary
elections on November 30, 2014. The turnout was 57.28%. The seats in the
Parliament were distributed as follows: PSRM - 25 mandates, LDPM - 23,
PCRM - 21, PDM - 19 and PL - 13.
On October 30 and November 13,
2016, the presidential elections in Moldova were held after the
Constitutional Court's decision of March 4, 2016 established the
presidential elections by direct vote of citizens. The first round of
voting was approved on October 30, 2016, with a participation rate of
50.95%, and 1/3 of voters on the electoral lists was exceeded. Since
none of the 9 candidates for the post of President of Moldova collected
50% of the votes, in accordance with the law, the second vote was
organized on November 13, 2016. The fight was given by the first two
candidates who received the most votes on October 30 - Igor Dodon and
Maia Sandu. The voter turnout was 53.45%, and Igor Dodon was elected
President of the Republic of Moldova.
Representatives of 15
political parties took part in the parliamentary elections, which took
place on February 24, 2019. The voter turnout in the elections was
50.57%, according to the election results, the first place was taken by
the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova (35 mandates),
followed by the Democratic Party of Moldova (30 mandates), the ACUM bloc
(26 mandates), the Shor Party (7 mandates), and 3 mandates were received
by independent candidates.
In the 2021 early parliamentary
elections, the pro-presidential Action and Solidarity Party won the
majority (52.8% of the votes).
One issue that dominates Moldovan politics is how to deal with the
separatist regions of Transnistria and Gagauzia. While Gagauzia accepted
an autonomous status offered by the Moldovan government, negotiations
with Transnistria are proving much more difficult. After the
Transnistria conflict in 1992, a de facto regime around Igor Smirnov was
established in Tiraspol, which controlled the area beyond the Dniester
and built up its own administrative structures there.
The
Transnistria conflict is not just a dispute between elites in Chișinău
and Tiraspol or between parts of the population who speak different
languages; it also has a geostrategic dimension regarding the influence
of the superpowers USA and Russia in Southeast Europe. This
international dimension makes it significantly more difficult to resolve
the conflict. Negotiation efforts over the last 20 years have repeatedly
failed despite – or because of – international mediation efforts by
Russia, Ukraine, the USA, the European Union or the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) because each side was trying
not to give in too much and therefore blocked a conflict resolution with
the help of allies. This was the case during the negotiations on the
Russian Federation's initiative known as the Kozak Plan, which envisaged
the formation of a federal state on the territory of the Republic of
Moldova, which failed in November 2003. Moldovan government circles saw
too many advantages for Transnistria in the agreement. Some observers
suspected in 2001 that the elites on both sides were not interested in
resolving the conflict, but in maintaining the status quo, which would
provide sources of income for both sides.
The 2008 Caucasus War
took place from August 7, 2008 to August 16, 2008: Russian troops
invaded Georgia. On August 12, 2008, Transnistria froze all contacts
with the government in Chișinău because "the Republic of Moldova was
lacking a clear and strong statement condemning Georgia's aggression
against South Ossetia and Abkhazia." On August 26, Russian President
Dmitry Medvedev warned the head of state of the Republic of Moldova,
Voronin, against a military solution to the conflict based on the
Georgian model. "The war over South Ossetia is a warning to everyone."
Following the outcome of the 2006 referendum, according to which 97%
of the Transnistrian population voted to join Russia, Mikhail Burla,
Chairman of the Supreme Council of Transnistria, turned to the Kremlin
in April 2014 with a formal request to incorporate the breakaway
province into the territory of the Russian Federation.
In the past, points of friction between the neighboring states were
both the Republic of Moldova's debts to the Romanian power plants and
the cultural identity of the Romanians, who make up the majority in the
Republic of Moldova. The largest part of the Republic of Moldova,
together with the present-day Romanian region of Western Moldova, formed
the empire of Stephen the Great (see Principality of Moldova) - the
common national hero of both states - and was Romanian territory from
1918 to 1940/1944.
A movement for the unification of Romania and
Moldova arose between 1990 and 1992 (the Soviet Union collapsed in
1991); from 1993 onwards, the Republic of Moldova distanced itself from
Romania again. With the state visit of Romanian President Traian Băsescu
to Chișinău in January 2005 and the subsequent return visit of Moldovan
President Vladimir Voronin, Moldovan-Romanian relations reached a high
point and were considered to be better than ever before.
After
the parliamentary elections on April 5, 2009, fierce street battles
broke out. The Romanian ambassador was initially expelled and the visa
requirement for Romanian citizens was reintroduced.
In general,
Romania supports the Republic of Moldova in its rapprochement with the
EU and in the Transnistrian issue. Romania advocates maintaining the
territorial integrity of its neighboring state and rejects Transnistrian
separatism.
Romanian ancestors are enough for Moldovans to obtain
Romanian citizenship. Many take advantage of this opportunity because
they want to benefit from freedom of travel in the EU and hope for
better professional opportunities and a higher income.
In 1998, a partnership and cooperation agreement with the European
Union came into force. The EU supports the development of a market
economy and a functioning democracy. Since November 30, 2005, there has
been the EUBAM Republic of Moldova/Ukraine, an EU border control mission
on the border between Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova to prevent
smuggling (mainly weapons, drugs and people) to and from Transnistria.
On May 7, 2009, the Republic of Moldova joined the Eastern
Partnership with five other member states of the Commonwealth of
Independent States (CIS). In January 2010, association talks with the
Republic of Moldova began in Chișinău as part of the EU's European
Neighbourhood Policy. Moldovan Foreign Minister Iurie Leancă said that
EU membership was a long-term goal, but that for the time being the aim
was to create a free trade zone, solve economic problems together and,
above all, abolish the visa requirement for Moldovan citizens.
On
December 5, 2011, the European Commission announced a comprehensive free
trade agreement with the Republic of Moldova. Negotiations were
initiated as part of the planned association agreement. The EU wants the
free trade areas to serve the long-term political stabilization of the
state. Currently (as of 2011), the Republic of Moldova has preferential
access to the European market; the EU is the country's main trading
partner.
On June 27, 2014, three months after Russia occupied and
annexed Crimea, the economic and political association agreement between
the Republic of Moldova and the EU was concluded in Brussels. On July 2,
2014, the Moldovan parliament ratified the EU association agreement. The
Russian news agency RIA Novosti then reported: "Supporters of EU
integration cheered this event in front of parliament." It claimed that
criminal proceedings would be initiated against opponents of EU
rapprochement.
Western observers generally believe that Russia is
suspicious of Moldova's move towards the European Union and is trying to
hinder it. In November 2013, Russia imposed an import ban on Moldovan
wine because traces of plasticizers had been found in it. However, the
levels measured were below the limits permitted for Russian and European
drinking water. Since wine accounts for more than 25% of Moldova's
agricultural exports and the majority of exports had previously gone to
Russia, this was a blow to the Moldovan economy. Western observers
suspected that the embargo was a warning from Russia in view of the
Moldovan association talks with the EU. On the day the association
agreement with the EU was ratified, Russia imposed an import ban on meat
products from Moldova.
After the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and
the associated breach of the Budapest Memorandum, fears of possible
Russian aggression grew in Chișinău. There is a high level of dependence
on Russia, especially in the area of energy policy. Russia is
gradually losing importance as a foreign trade partner; Moldova is still
dependent on the Russian market in several key sectors such as
agriculture, food, textiles, etc. (as of 2014). The Moldovan government
therefore feared that the Kremlin could use political and economic
pressure in the future to torpedo the state's European integration.
In 2017, Moldova was granted observer status in the Eurasian
Economic Union.
After the start of the Russian attack on Ukraine
(February 24, 2022), around 70,000 refugees from Ukraine came to Moldova
in one week.
On March 3, 2022, the Republic of Moldova applied to
join the European Union. This was apparently done in view of the
conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Georgia had previously also applied
for this. On June 23, 2022, Moldova was granted EU candidate status at
an EU summit in Brussels.
On October 20, 2024, Parliament held a
referendum with the aim of anchoring EU accession in the constitution. A
narrow majority voted in favor of the constitutional amendment.
Relationship with the United States
The United States supports the
sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Moldova. In
January 2010, in the presence of Prime Minister Vlad Filat, a Millennium
Challenge Corporation (MCC) agreement was signed in Washington, D.C., in
which the United States (Obama administration) pledged to provide the
Republic of Moldova with $262 million in agricultural and infrastructure
aid over a period of five years.
The Moldovan armed forces are divided into the army and the air
force. Due to the country's landlocked location, Moldova has no navy.
There is compulsory military service in the Republic of Moldova. In
2016, service lasted 12 months. In 2017, Moldova spent just under 0.4%
of its economic output, or 29.7 million US dollars, on its armed forces.
The state's defense budget is one of the smallest in the world.
Transnistria maintains its own armed forces.
The territory of the Republic of Moldova is divided into five municipalities (municipii; singular municipiu) and 32 raions (raioane; sg. raion). There are also two autonomous territorial units. Two of the municipalities (Comrat and Tiraspol) are de jure part of an autonomous territorial unit (Gagauzia and Transnistria respectively), another municipality (Bender) is de facto controlled by Transnistria, as are parts of the Căușeni district.
The Republic of Moldova lives primarily from agriculture and the
associated industry. The climate is conducive to fruit and wine growing.
Wine is a main export item alongside brandy and canned goods
(fruit/vegetables), as are textile products and smaller electrical
appliances. The country owes its high air quality to the fact that it is
not an industrial country.
The gross domestic product (GDP) of
the Republic of Moldova was around 6.09 billion euros in 2016. The gross
domestic product per capita was around 2,258 euros in the same year. In
the Global Competitiveness Index - which measures the competitiveness of
a country - the Republic of Moldova ranks 89th out of 137 countries (as
of 2017-2018). In the Index for Economic Freedom, the country ranked
110th out of 180 countries in 2017.
The Republic of Moldova has a
largely free market economy. As part of the association agreement with
the EU, the establishment of a free trade zone was agreed. The
agricultural sector contributed 12.3% to GDP in 2014. The service sector
accounted for 60% of GDP in 2014 (January to September). Industrial
production accounted for 14%.
The unemployment rate in 2017 is
reported to be only 4.1%. However, underemployment is widespread and
wages are very low. In the same year, 32.3% of all workers worked in
agriculture, 12% in industry and 55.7% in the service sector. The
Republic of Moldova is one of the last European countries where a large
proportion of the workforce is still employed in the primary sector. The
total workforce is estimated at 1.29 million in 2017, 49% of whom are
women.
Before gaining independence in the early 1990s, the Republic of
Moldova was one of the most prosperous Soviet republics. Since 1992, the
economic situation has deteriorated drastically as a result of the
unresolved Transnistria conflict. The average monthly wage rose from 30
euros (approx. 465 lei) in February 2003 to 102 euros (approx. 1,695
lei) in 2006, and pensioners receive an average of 12 euros per month.
In 2003, at least 100 euros were needed to cover the minimum subsistence
level. However, the enormous importance of the shadow economy must be
taken into account here, which sometimes increases the actual income of
many people enormously. The official statistics are therefore only of
limited significance.
In the Republic of Moldova, a VAT of 20%
generally applies. Some foodstuffs, such as bread or milk, but also gas
or postal services, are subject to a reduced tax of 8%. Since 2014, its
citizens have been able to travel within the EU without a visa. The
European Union has promised the Republic of Moldova extensive financial
aid.
The Republic of Moldova is one of the poorest countries in
Europe and the weakest economy in Europe in terms of GDP per capita. A
quarter of the population has therefore emigrated abroad; from there,
these emigrants transfer money to the Republic of Moldova, which in
total amounts to more than its GDP.
The state budget in 2016 included expenditures of the equivalent of
2.46 billion US dollars, compared to revenues of 2.29 billion US
dollars. This corresponds to a deficit of 2.2% of GDP.
Public
debt was 38.0% of GDP.
In 2020, the share of government spending
(in % of GDP) in the following areas was:
Health: 6.8%
Education:
6.4%
Military: 0.5% (2023)
In 2019, the fire service in Moldova was organized nationwide by 1,381 professional and 90 volunteer firefighters, who work in 62 fire stations and firehouses - in which 163 fire engines and 25 turntable ladders or telescopic masts are available.
The railway network is 1,190 km long and has a 1,520 mm broad gauge. There are no electrified routes; traffic is carried out using diesel locomotives. At the moment, there are direct international passenger connections to Kyiv, Iași and Bucharest. Domestic rail traffic is insignificant due to the very limited service.
The entire road network in 2012 covered around 9,352 km, of which
8,835 km are asphalted. The condition of the roads outside of Chișinău
is mostly poor. There are no motorways and none are planned.
Regionally and nationally, the bus is the most important means of
transport for passenger transport. For international transport, there
are bus connections to numerous European cities.
With access to the Dniester and Prut, the state has important inland waterways. The duty-free port of Giurgiulești was built at the entrance to the Danube, which is only a few hundred meters wide and can be reached by sea-going vessels with a draft of up to 7 meters.
The Aeroportul Internațional Chișinău (IATA code: RMO, formerly KVI)
is the only international airport in the Republic of Moldova. There are
direct flights from there to Vienna, Istanbul, Moscow, Timișoara,
Budapest, Bucharest, Paris, Frankfurt, Munich, Rome, Hamburg, Warsaw and
Verona.
The first flight of a commercial aircraft between
Frankfurt and Chișinău took place on July 7, 2003. It was a charter
flight by Lufthansa, on which 182 passengers were transported in an
Airbus A321. It was also the first landing of this aircraft type at
Chișinău Airport.
A conflict in the aviation sector that had been
ongoing since the beginning of 2003 was resolved. Direct flights between
Frankfurt and Chișinău resumed in July 2005. They were operated by Air
Moldova (IATA code: 9U) and the German code-sharing partner Cirrus
Airlines.