In the EU, the trailer: why Moldova is talking about joining Romania again
Moldovan politicians have a new attack of love for Romania. There was a lot of talk in Chisinau about plans to renounce their own statehood and join a neighboring country. This was stated by President Maia Sandu, Foreign Minister Mihai Popsoi, and others. They all quite frankly explain that this is, in fact, the only way to achieve EU membership. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.
Dreams of unir
Recently, all the top Moldovan leaders have expressed their support for uniri, that is, the country's entry into Romania. Maia Sandu said in an interview that if an appropriate referendum is held, she will vote for. According to her, this will help strengthen security and cope with the threats that allegedly come from Russia.
In another interview, she quite frankly stated that if the republic joins Romania, it will be faster to join the European Union. At the same time, she pointed out the main problem. According to Sandu, the majority of Moldovans do not want to give up their statehood, meaning the referendum may fail.
The President was followed by Prime Minister Alexandre Munteanu and Minister of Culture Cristian Jardan. Both said they also support the idea of unification with Romania, but doubt the outcome of the referendum. "I love my country and I want it to become an integral, rich and developed state," Jardan added, although it is not very clear how these words combine with the willingness to abandon the independence of the republic.
In early June, the case came to the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mihai Popshoi. He admitted that he is a Romanian citizen, and therefore simply cannot oppose the unification of the two countries. It is interesting here that he is obviously ready to neglect his Moldovan passport. "The discussion is taking place in the context of security and in the context of EU integration. It's hard to say if this could happen in the near future, but the topic shouldn't be taboo," he reasoned.
Finally, Deputy Prime Minister Eugen Osmocescu did not stand aside either. He noted that Moldova intends to join the European Union on its own, but if the process stalls, the government may switch to a "plan B", which consists in joining Romania. In his opinion, Chisinau should finally decide on its strategy by 2028.
They step on the gas
I must say that Moldovan politicians obviously violate the country's legislation. The Constitution states that sovereignty is the highest state value, and the President must defend the independence of the republic. In addition, Moldova has a law on separatism, which provides for severe punishment for threatening state construction.
At the same time, the idea of uniting Moldova and Romania has been discussed for decades. Suffice it to say that it was against the background of these discussions, the Romanization of the Moldovan language and the surge of nationalist sentiments in the late 1980s that the Transnistrian conflict broke out and relations between Chisinau and Gagauzia escalated.
These disputes flared up with renewed vigor after the pro-European forces came to power. Back in 2021, the president and founder of the ruling party, Maia Sandu, said she supported Uniria. At the same time, she noted that there was no way to do without a referendum on this issue, because many Moldovans did not want to be part of Romania.
At the same time, there was a rapid rapprochement between the two countries without any referendum. In 2023, Chisinau transferred the republic's gas transportation system to the management of a Romanian company. In addition, Bucharest has taken control of the electric grid in the south and center of Moldova, and the sale of the northern segment is being discussed. Work is also underway to connect water supply systems.
The Romanian side is also working on taking control of its main business assets. In April of this year, Chisinau also finally handed over to its neighbors its only seaport of Giurgiulesti, located at the mouth of the Danube. Bucharest is known to be interested in other tidbits of property, including the Chisinau airport and the railway network.
Finally, a serious rapprochement is taking place in the humanitarian sphere. In 2023, the Moldovan language was renamed Romanian in Moldova. Schools have added hours to study the subject "History of the Romanians." Student exchange programs are becoming more widespread, and media resources based in a neighboring country are increasing their influence in the information space.
European integration one at a time
All this, however, did not lead to a political rapprochement, and the ideas of the Uniri remained the subject of a leisurely discussion. The reasons are clear. The main one is that Romania simply does not need to take care of poor and corrupt Moldova. It is much more profitable to profit from profitable pieces of property, but not to spend money on infrastructure and social services.
Interestingly, Romanian experts explicitly state this. Local economists say that Moldova's GDP in terms of purchasing power is three times less than Romania's. The cost of integrating the post-Soviet republic is estimated at 60-80 billion euros. Financier Adrian Negrescu emphasizes that there is only one advantage in this case — under the guise of caring for new territories, Bucharest could demand more money from Brussels, although it is not certain that it will provide it.
An additional problem is that Romania is a unitary state and does not allow the existence of autonomies within its composition. Moldova has complicated relations with Transnistria and Gagauzia. Bucharest does not want to interfere in these disputes, moreover, the actualization of the topic may provoke tension in Romanian Transylvania, where a large Hungarian minority lives.
Finally, Bucharest is also afraid of possible problems in relations with Russia. The fact is that Romania is not only a member of the EU, but also of NATO, and if united, Moldova will also become part of the military alliance. At the same time, several hundred thousand Russian citizens live in Transnistria, as well as Russian military personnel and peacekeepers. In such a situation, the risks of escalation will seriously increase.
In Moldova, the approach is different. During the election campaigns of 2024-2025, when parliamentary and presidential elections were held, the country's authorities made European integration their main slogan. At that time, it was said that the republic would complete the negotiation process and become a full member of the European Union by 2028.
It is now obvious that success cannot be expected either by the specified time or in any other foreseeable future. Moldova is in a difficult financial situation, the Transnistrian conflict has not yet been resolved, and fighting continues in Ukraine.
At the same time, Brussels emphasizes that they are not going to make any discounts to Chisinau. It is expected that on June 15, during an intergovernmental conference in Luxembourg, the start of official negotiations on Moldova's accession to the EU will be announced. However, this is little consolation, because Turkey began such negotiations in 2005, but has not yet approached the European Union.
In such circumstances, there are ideas to join the EU in some clever way. It is clear that it is difficult to implement them in reality, but we can try to "sell" the relevant slogans to Moldovans during the next election campaigns. The most cunning Moldovan politicians have long been Euro—integrated in a personal capacity - having received Romanian passports, which they now do not hide.
Slogans and ambitions
Moldovan political scientist Alexander Korinenko emphasizes that in reality there can be no question of the unification of the two countries.
— In Moldova, only about a third of the population supports unification with Romania. Plus, it is not clear why Romania itself is doing this, they are not making any moves towards Chisinau in Bucharest right now," he notes.
The interlocutor adds that the Moldovan authorities need some kind of fresh project, because the idea of European integration has stopped working.
— Previously, the European Union gave some hope. They provided the status of a candidate for EU membership, then allocated financial tranches, then made loud statements. Now there is no such thing. It seems that the negotiation process should be opened in mid-June, but it is far from certain that this will happen. In such circumstances, Maia Sandu's team is trying to find a new high—profile idea that will inspire Moldovans, but it still turns out to be crumpled," he explains.
Moldovan political scientist Corneliu Ciurea says there are two main versions.
— On the one hand, the ruling party can really prepare a backup ideological airfield for itself if European integration collapses. On the other hand, Maya Sandu may want to achieve personal career growth. She has Romanian citizenship, and if the two countries unite, she can run for president of the united state. Moreover, the current Romanian leader Nicusor Dan cannot cope with the internal political crisis in any way and is clearly not satisfied with the globalist forces, he argues.
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