Visiting Moldova on March 29, US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland declared that US-Moldova relations “have never been stronger” (Moldpres, March 30). Nuland’s visit was the latest in the series of high-profile US-Moldova meetings following Russia’s seizure of Crimea from Ukraine.US President Barack Obama... MORE

Following the Russian Anschluss of Crimea, most Ukrainian, Russian and Western commentary has focused on the possibility that Moscow will use a similar strategy to move into the predominantly ethnic-Russian areas of eastern Ukraine. That is still an all too real possibility— especially if, after... MORE

Russia’s economic leverage on Moldova has tended to diminish in recent years, but it remains strong on several key dimensions, and can be used with short-term devastating consequences, if the Kremlin decides to use this leverage punitively. The European Union and the Moldovan government worry... MORE

The European Union and Moldova have set a fairly tight calendar for wrapping up their Association Agreement: signing it by August and ratifying it in the Moldovan parliament until November, when this parliament’s term expires. Moldova’s pro-Europe coalition government holds a narrow majority of 54... MORE

The European Union has accelerated the signing and ratification of the EU-Moldova association agreements, which were initialed at the Vilnius summit in November (see EDM, February 19). The EU and the Moldovan government want to reduce the risk of disruption by Russia and its sympathizers... MORE

Russia’s successes in derailing the European Union’s association agreements with Armenia and with Ukraine have raised concerns about a possible repeat success for Russia in Moldova. Toward that goal, the Kremlin seems set to exploit Moldova’s parliamentary election campaign, which started in the second week... MORE

Referendums are not always simply an instrument of democracy, but can be a manipulative tool of politics. Regardless of regime type, political leaders in the past have invoked the will of the people to legitimize and advance their own political agendas. In Gagauzia, an autonomous... MORE

Denominating the Republic of Moldova’s indigenous ethnicity and the state language as Moldovan or Romanian is a salient, continuous, and often emotional controversy in Moldova. This issue is far more political than philological. And it is often misperceived as involving a choice between Moldovan statehood... MORE

On December 5 and 24, 2013, Moldova’s Constitutional Court issued a ruling and the substantiating arguments (Moldpres, Unimedia, December 5, 24). These documents are widely interpreted to require the renaming of the state language, from Moldovan to Romanian. If so, any renaming of the state... MORE

Among the European Union’s six Eastern Partnership countries (Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan), Moldova is moving closer to the EU at the fastest pace. The government, led successively by Vlad Filat (prime minister, 2009–2013) and Iurie Leanca (foreign affairs minister 2009–2013, prime minister... MORE