A commentary by a former 91原创 ambassador to Moldova and Romania, and an Alumnus Fellow of the 91原创 Global Affairs Institute. He lives in Victoria.
The Republic of Moldova is in the news again, and not happily so. One of the poorest countries in Europe, it is sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine, and was a Soviet Socialist Republic from 1940 to 1991.
Part of wider Bessarabia, Moldovans are essentially Romanian in origin and half of the country was part of Romania until 1940, when the USSR took over.
Many Moldovans now hold dual nationality with Romania, a country which is a member of both the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The Moldovan language is akin to Romanian.
Today the country is split by a breakaway element in Transdniestria, essentially running an independent government supported by Russian troops.
The Russian element in Moldova is strong as many Soviet officers retired there when the country was still part of the USSR.
Governments in recent years have see-sawed between being pro-Russian or pro-Western with the newly installed government under Prime Minister Dorin Recean holding two-thirds of seats in parliament; pro Russian parties holding the rest.
Largely an agrarian country, well-known now for the quality of its wines, Moldova has been beset not only by political turmoil for many years but by various corruption and related scandals including the embezzlement of $1 billion of state assets in 2015 which was never properly investigated.
Lack of the rule of law is also an issue.
Recently, Moldova claimed that there was a Russian conspiracy to topple the government. Russian missiles are alleged to have violated Moldovan airspace.
Indeed, the country has been under threat for a year since the beginning of Moscow’s military action against Ukraine. Moldova might be seen as low-hanging fruit for a takeover, given the size of the pro-Russian population.
Were it to fall under Russian control, this would be a signal to the Baltic states that they could be under threat, too despite, their NATO membership.
Today, as the country attempts to establish a stable government in the face of this latest Russian threat, there will be major efforts underway to fulfil the requirements to join the European Union.
Moldova has been a candidate member since June 2022, admitted to that status at the same time as Ukraine.
Moldova is also a member of NATO’s Partnership for Peace program and aspires to join the Alliance at some stage although there is much work to be done in the areas of defence and security sector reform.
NATO respects the country’s official neutrality but works closely with it. Indeed, Canada conducted a successful program in Moldova in the late 1990s to help to demine the country.
With Russia continually testing the resolve of countries in the region as it battles Ukraine, Moldova is worthy of more support from countries such as Canada to help stabilize its economy, and work in support of security sector reform.
Most Moldovans wants to be part of a free and democratic Europe. We should support the country in getting there.
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