Moldova: An Overview

link to page 2


Updated August 14, 2023
Moldova: An Overview
Moldova is one of three post-Soviet states—together with
house arrest for six months; Dodon is under investigation
Ukraine and Georgia—that seeks greater integration with
on charges related to corruption and treason. Moldovan
the West in the face of Russian resistance and territorial
officials have noted that addressing challenges arising from
occupation. Many Members of Congress have long
Russia’s war against Ukraine slowed reform efforts.
supported Moldova’s democratic trajectory and territorial
Inflation, high energy costs, and other economic pressures
integrity and have called on Russia to withdraw its military
also have weakened support for Sandu and the ruling PAS.
forces from Moldova’s breakaway region of Transnistria.
Moldova is scheduled to hold local elections in November
2023 and presidential elections in late 2024.
Moldova’s president and ruling party were elected on pro-
European platforms in 2020 and 2021. Their reform-
One of Europe’s poorest countries, Moldova has made
oriented agenda was buoyed by a European Union (EU)
“significant progress in reducing poverty and promoting
decision in June 2022 to name Moldova a candidate for EU
inclusive growth,” according to the World Bank. Moldova’s
membership (together with Ukraine). The United States and
annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth declined by
the EU have supported Moldova’s efforts to implement EU-
8% in 2020 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
related reforms while taking steps to curtail Russian
but rebounded in 2021 with 14% growth. GDP declined by
influence and address the security, economic, and political
6% in 2022, due in part to the economic impact of Russia’s
impacts of Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine.
war against Ukraine. An estimated 1 million or more
Moldovan citizens live abroad; in recent years, labor
Political and Economic Background
remittances have been estimated at more than 15% of GDP.
Moldova’s political environment has been contentious since
2009, when Western-oriented parties first unseated a
Figure 1. Moldova at a Glance
Communist Party-led government. In July 2021, Moldovan
President Maia Sandu’s reform-oriented Party of Action
and Solidarity (PAS) won snap parliamentary elections.
PAS’s victory marked the first time in 20 years that a party
received an absolute majority of votes in a parliamentary
election. The party’s victory, and the formation of a single-
party government, ended years of rule by unstable
coalitions that often included allegedly corrupt political
forces. Prime Minister Dorin Recean has led the
government since February 2023.
President Sandu herself was directly elected in November
2020, defeating incumbent Igor Dodon, 58% to 42%, in a
second-round vote. At the time, Dodon was the de facto
head of the Russian-leaning, socially conservative Party of
Socialists, the former ruling party. The presidency holds

symbolic importance but has relatively limited formal
Notes: Figure created by CRS using Moldova National Bureau of
powers under Moldova’s parliamentary system.
Statistics and World Bank (does not include Transnistria).
In the July 2021 snap parliamentary elections, PAS won
Impact of Russia’s War on Ukraine
53% of the vote and 63 of 101 seats. A Socialist-led bloc
Russia’s war against Ukraine has created new challenges
won 27% of the vote and 32 seats. The third party to enter
for Moldova. Government officials have expressed concern
parliament, the populist, Russia-leaning Shor Party (banned
that Russia could seek to attack and occupy Moldova if
in 2023, see below), was led by political and business figure
Russian armed forces were to seize control of nearby areas
Ilan Shor, who fled the country in 2019 while appealing a
of southern Ukraine. With a resident population of under 3
seven-year sentence for his role in a $1 billion bank fraud
million, Moldova hosts more than 115,000 refugees from
scandal from 2014; in April 2023, an appeals court
Ukraine; many more have transited Moldova. Moldova also
sentenced Shor in absentia to 15 years in prison and ordered
has faced worsened energy security and cost crises and has
the confiscation of nearly $300 million in assets.
had among the highest inflation rates in Europe.
The PAS government pledged to strengthen the rule of law.
Since 2022, Russian-leaning political parties and
One early action was the indictment of Moldova’s former
individuals in Moldova have come under greater scrutiny as
prosecutor general on corruption-related charges. In May
part of broader efforts to curtail Russian influence in
2022, authorities placed former President Dodon under
Moldova (also see “U.S. Relations” below). Ilan Shor and
https://crsreports.congress.gov

Moldova: An Overview
other Russia-connected actors allegedly have sought to
Moldova is a constitutionally neutral state and does not
foment unrest in Moldova, including by tapping into
aspire to join NATO. Moldova maintains close relations
discontent over economic conditions and organizing anti-
with NATO and the EU and, especially, Romania, a NATO
government protests. In June 2023, the Constitutional Court
and EU member. Moldovans are related to Romanians by
of Moldova dissolved the Shor Party in response to a
ethnicity and language; many have dual citizenship.
government request to review the party’s compliance with
Moldova’s laws and constitution (its former members are
Moldova was granted EU candidate status in June 2022.
permitted to serve in parliament as independent deputies).
The EU identified nine conditions for Moldova’s
advancement in the accession process and stated in June
Transnistrian Conflict
2023 that Moldova had met three of them. The next step,
Since Moldova gained independence in 1991, it has coped
opening accession negotiations with Moldova, would need
with the de facto Russian-backed secession of Transnistria,
approval from all 27 EU member states. The process of
a multiethnic and predominantly Russian-speaking region
joining the EU can take many years, and EU membership
with about 10% of Moldova’s population and a substantial
may not be guaranteed.
industrial base. Moldovan authorities have supported
extending special governance status to Transnistria to
Looming over Moldova’s development, and of interest to
resolve the dispute. Russia and Transnistria have resisted
many in Congress, is the question of Russia’s influence and
such an arrangement, keeping the conflict frozen for over
destabilization efforts. Moldovan and U.S. officials have
three decades. Transnistria heavily depends on subsidized
accused Russia of providing illicit support first to the
flows of natural gas from Russia.
Socialist Party and ex-President Dodon, including in efforts
to influence the 2020 and 2021 elections, and subsequently
Russia stations about 1,500 troops in Transnistria, most of
to the now-banned Shor Party “as a basis to foment a
whom are reportedly local residents; Moldova formally
manufactured insurrection.” Since 2022, Moldova has
accepts a few hundred of these personnel as peacekeepers.
reduced its dependence on Russian gas imports, which
In 2018, the U.N. General Assembly passed a resolution
Russia has used in the past as leverage over Moldova.
calling on Russia to withdraw its troops from Moldova
“unconditionally and without further delay.”
U.S. Relations
The United States supports Moldova’s sovereignty and
Local authorities in Transnistria appeared to avoid overtly
territorial integrity within its internationally recognized
supporting Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine and also took
borders. In 2022, the United States and Moldova formally
in refugees (Transnistria is home to many ethnic
relaunched a bilateral Strategic Dialogue. In 2022, during
Ukrainians). Despite Transnistria’s separatist tendencies
the 117th Congress, H.Res. 833 and S.Res. 638 expressed
and local authorities’ stated opposition to Moldova’s EU
support for Moldova and for strong U.S.-Moldova relations.
candidate status, the region has strong economic links to the
In the 118th Congress, H.R. 5174 would provide for
rest of Moldova and the EU, the destination for almost two-
increased defense cooperation with Moldova.
thirds of its exports in 2022.
U.S. bilateral assistance to Moldova was about $55 million
A conflict resolution process formally operates in a “5+2”
a year from FY2019 to FY2021 and more than $285 million
format under the chairpersonship of the Organization for
in FY2022 (including humanitarian and other supplemental
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), with the
Ukraine-related assistance). FY2023 assistance includes at
OSCE, Russia, and Ukraine as mediators and the EU and
least $300 million, mainly to strengthen Moldova’s energy
the United States as observers. Moldova has worked with
security. The Biden Administration’s FY2024 budget
Transnistrian authorities to address issues related to transit,
request includes about $62 million in assistance.
education, agriculture, and civil statistics. The COVID-19
pandemic slowed the dialogue in 2020; the process again
The United States has taken action against some Moldovan
halted after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
politicians for alleged corruption and subversion of
democracy. In October 2022, the U.S. Department of the
The EU also supports conflict management through an EU
Treasury imposed sanctions on Shor, the Shor Party, and
Border Assistance Mission, which has sought to help
other individuals for “acting as instruments” of Russia’s
Moldova and Ukraine combat transborder crime and
efforts to destabilize Moldova and “return [it] to Russia’s
facilitate trade. Since 2022, the Mission has contributed to
sphere of influence.” In June 2023, Treasury imposed new
refugee crisis management and assisted the EU’s efforts to
sanctions on alleged members of a “Russian intelligence-
establish alternative land routes for Ukrainian exports.
linked malign influence group” for their role in Russia’s
Foreign Policy and EU Membership Bid
destabilization efforts. The Treasury Department also has
imposed sanctions on Vladimir Plahotniuc, former leader of
Moldova generally has pursued a pro-European foreign
the Democratic Party of Moldova, which governed
policy. Some political parties and many Moldovans have
Moldova from 2016 to 2019. Plahotniuc fled Moldova in
supported a closer relationship with Russia, although
2019 and has been indicted for financial crimes.
Russia’s war against Ukraine may have weakened such
support. Moldova has a free-trade agreement with the EU,
Sarah E. Garding, Analyst in European Affairs
which accounted for almost 60% of Moldova’s exports in
Cory Welt, Specialist in Russian and European Affairs
2022 and half of its total trade. The EU provides Moldova
with substantial aid, and Moldovan citizens enjoy visa-free
IF10894
entry to most member states.
https://crsreports.congress.gov

Moldova: An Overview


Disclaimer
This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff to
congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of Congress.
Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other than public understanding of information that has
been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in connection with CRS’s institutional role. CRS Reports, as a work of the
United States Government, are not subject to copyright protection in the United States. Any CRS Report may be
reproduced and distributed in its entirety without permission from CRS. However, as a CRS Report may include
copyrighted images or material from a third party, you may need to obtain the permission of the copyright holder if you
wish to copy or otherwise use copyrighted material.

https://crsreports.congress.gov | IF10894 · VERSION 16 · UPDATED