Moldovan President Maia Sandu said she would support unification with Romania if the issue were put to a referendum, noting that it is becoming increasingly difficult for her country to “survive” on its own. Moldova, with a population of about 2.4 million people and wedged between Romania and Ukraine, is increasingly becoming a target of Russia’s hybrid warfare, including disinformation campaigns and interference in elections.
“If we have a referendum, I would vote for unification with Romania,” Sandu said in an interview with the British podcast The Rest is Politics. She heads a pro-European government in Chisinau.
As she put it, “it is enough to look at what is happening around Moldova today and in the world more broadly.” “For a small country like Moldova, it is becoming ever harder to survive as a democracy, as a sovereign state and, of course, to stand up to Russia,” she explained.
Moldova was part of Romania from 1918 to 1940, after which it was annexed by the Soviet Union, and declared independence in 1991 following the end of the Cold War. In a 2024 referendum, a narrow majority—50.4 percent—voted in favor of joining the European Union. At the same time, Sandu was re-elected president, securing about 55 percent of the vote and defeating a pro-Russian challenger.
She stressed, however, that she understands the lack of majority support among Moldovan citizens for the idea of unification with Romania—unlike the path toward EU membership, an application for which the country submitted in 2022 and which Sandu described as a “more realistic goal.” Opinion polls show that about two-thirds of Moldovans oppose reunification, while in Romania itself support for the idea has traditionally been higher.