“Look at what’s happening around Moldova today. Look at what’s happening in the world,” she explained. “It is getting more and more difficult for a small country like Moldova to survive as a democracy, as a sovereign country, and of course to resist Russia.”
Moldova was part of Romania from 1918 until 1940, when it was annexed by the USSR, before declaring independence in 1991 after the fall of the Iron Curtain.
At a referendum in 2024, a narrow majority of Moldovans — 50.4 percent — voted in favor of EU membership in a vote marred by Russian interference. Sandu won reelection as president in a parallel vote with around 55 percent of the vote, defeating her pro-Russian opponent.
Despite voicing her personal support, Sandu added that she accepted the idea of reunification with Romania was not supported by a majority in Moldova — unlike joining the EU, which the country applied to do in 2022, and which she called a “more realistic objective.”
Polls show around two-thirds of Moldovans oppose reunification, while support is traditionally higher in Romania.