A Romania-Moldova Union? Work Has Begun

https://cepa.org/article/a-romania-moldova-union-work-has-begun/ ^ | 20th January 2026 | Aura Sabadus

[Cronos]

Moldovan President Maia Sandu has caused a furor.

In an interview with Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart, two British political figures turned podcasters, she openly stated she would vote for unification with Romania if there were a referendum.

Unionists on both sides of the River Prut were elated. For more than three decades, they have been pushing for the removal of the border which had separated the two sister countries since 1940, when Romanian-speaking Moldova was annexed by the Soviet Union.

Pro-Russian factions in Chișinău lashed out, decrying Sandu’s “betrayal of national interests,” and calling for her resignation.

With passion running high on both sides, it was no surprise the Moldovan government rushed to reassure the public, insisting the latest statement merely reflected Sandu’s personal choice and not her official position.

But those who have been paying attention, particularly to the energy sector, will have noticed some intriguing developments in recent years.

Moldova’s electricity and gas policies have been aligning closer with Romania’s, and the step is arguably one of the most critical towards the unification of the two countries.

There’s no conspiracy here; it’s simply that the alignment has been driven by necessity.

Much of the impetus has come from Kremlin meddling. Since 2021, Russia has sought to trigger repeated energy crises, expecting to blackmail Moldova’s pro-EU government and derail the country’s aspirations to join the bloc.

Until then, Moldova had depended for all its gas consumption and three-quarters of its electricity demand on Russian-controlled resources.

It’s hardly an exaggeration to say the country’s single biggest vulnerability to Moscow’s blackmail was its extreme reliance on Russian energy resources.

But Russia’s plans to destabilize the small country of 2.5million people have backfired.

By limiting gas supplies to Moldova in winters 2021 and 2022 and then cutting deliveries altogether to Transnistria in winter 2025, the Kremlin lost its grip over the whole country.

Moldova acted fast to diversify away, while Transnistria, a breakaway Russian-speaking province internationally recognized as being part of Moldova, could soon see major structural changes since the Kremlin is no longer able to use free gas supplies to fuel separatism.

Chișinău’s gas diversification plan was the first step towards severing its links to Russia.

Moldova can now buy gas in any neighboring European country, but to bring them home it uses an interconnector with Romania, which entered operation only a few weeks before the first energy crisis of winter 2021.

Since then, Moldova has taken other critical steps to align with Romania.

It passed rules allowing it to shift the operation of its strategic gas transmission infrastructure from a company majority owned by Russia’s Gazprom to the operator of the Romanian-Moldovan gas interconnector. The latter is a daughter company of the Romanian gas grid operator, Transgaz.

Technical experts say the two gas markets should now merge to streamline operations and cut costs.

Moldovan companies have secured licenses to trade in Romania, just as Romanian energy exchanges, suppliers, and producers have been opening subsidiaries in Chișinău.

Romania’s commitment to Moldova is even embedded in its national energy strategy up to 2035.

The document specifically mentions that the integration of its electricity and gas infrastructure with that of Moldova is of “strategic importance.”

It also notes that Romania’s energy security is unequivocally tied to that of Moldova’s and that it “should be in a position to guarantee all of Moldova’s energy needs for an indefinite period of time and under any circumstances.”

The strategy is taking shape.

Within a few weeks, Moldova will also boost its electricity supply security as a much-delayed direct, high-voltage line linking it to southeastern Romania is expected to come into operation.

Moldova had been using lines built in the Soviet era that passed through Transnistria to import electricity from Romania, presenting a major security risk.

Two additional electricity interconnectors with eastern Romania scheduled for operation later this decade will also boost Moldova’s security of supply, as the country will be able to import more electricity from Romania.

Even Transnistria, which depended on free Russian gas deliveries to sustain its separatist structures, has been relying on Russian-funded exports delivered via Romania.

Although Moscow uses Hungary and Dubai-based companies to buy and deliver the gas to Transnistria, the arrangement is difficult to sustain amid international sanctions against Russia.

If circumstances persist, Transnistrian authorities will have to consider structural reform, which would inevitably align it with Moldova and implicitly Romania.

Unification may not enjoy widespread popular support on either side of the River Prut, at least for now (polls suggest a majority oppose such a move, with around 30% in favor).

However, the rapid convergence of the two countries’ energy sectors shows that alignment is already underway, primarily driven by security concerns.

For Bucharest, regional stability is linked to Moldova’s energy security. The events of the last five years showed Russia was ready to use the energy lever to destabilize the country and the wider neighborhood.

For Chisinau, Romania is a guarantor of resilience, which it requires on its path to EU integration.

The countries may tactfully avoid the subject of unification, and it will be argued that this isn’t on the cards for now. But the truth remains that work is underway to ensure that in a sudden crisis, the barriers to union could be overcome.

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TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: maiasandu; moldova; romania; romaniamoldovaunion

[Cronos]

The Principality of Moldavia was established in 1359 with Bogdan I, a Romanian voivode from Maramureș, becoming its first independent ruler. In 1538 the country became a vassal state of the Ottoman Empire. Its eastern territories between the Prut and the Dniestr (approximately half of the principality corresponding roughly to today's territory of Moldova) were annexed by the Russian Empire in 1812, in accordance with the Treaty of Bucharest. The Russians referred to this new region as Bessarabia, taking a name that had previously only applied to a southern portion of the region (known also as the "Budjak") and extending it to cover the entire newly annexed territory. The name derives from the Wallachian Basarab dynasty, who had ruled over the southern region in the Middle Ages. During the Russian Revolution of 1917, a newly formed regional parliament (Sfatul Țării) declared Bessarabia's autonomy within Russia. In 1918, after the Romanian army entered Bessarabia, the makeshift parliament decided on independence

In 1940, during World War II, Romania agreed to an ultimatum and ceded Bessarabia and northern Bukovina to the Soviet Union, which organized Bessarabia into the Moldavian SSR. In mid-1941, Romania joined the Axis powers in the invasion of the Soviet Union, recovering both territories, as well as occupying the territory to the east of the Dniester it dubbed "Transnistria". By the end of World War II, the Soviet Union had reconquered all of these territories, reestablishing Soviet authority there. The Soviets strongly promoted the Moldovan ethnic identity, against other opinions that viewed all speakers of the Romanian language as part of a single ethnic group, taking advantage of the incomplete integration of Bessarabia into interwar Romania

Moldovan and Romanian are essentially the same language, with 100% mutual intelligibility.

[rxh4n1]

Kick out Transnistria and do it. Then demand Nortern Bukovina back from Ukraine.

[Cronos]

And as to northern Bukovina

The majority population is ukrainian, but with significant Romanian and other (Polish, hungarian, German, Roma, etc. etc.) minorities

To which 'ethnic group' does NORTHERN Bukovina belong to? Technically it belongs to both Ukrainians and to Romanians/Moldovans

If ukraine ever joins the EU, then this Could be a shared sovereignty space like southern Tyrol

[AZJeep]

Moldova is an artificial state, created by Stalin.
They should reunite ASAP.

[Larry Lucido]

Would it be called Roldova? Let’s ask Mr. Pitt.

[Larry Lucido]

Or maybe Mulvania.

[TexasFreeper2009]

maybe a Romanian/Ukraine merger would solve everything. A back door to get Ukraine into NATO.

[dfwgator]

Kick out Transnistria and do it. Then demand Nortern Bukovina back from Ukraine.

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And then the Hungarians will start demanding their old land back.

[dfwgator]

Or maybe Mulvania.

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Or Doloresania.

[Larry Lucido]

Roleolea?

[Cronos]

Moldovia is essentially a chunk of Romanian flesh that the USSR tore off

[Cronos]

I feel for the Szekeley - a large “island” of Szekely Hungarians (supposedly the Magyarized descendents of the Cumans) surrounded by Romanians.

Szekely-land should be some kind of shared sovereignty state within the EU, like Sud-Tirol

[tlozo]

Then demand Nortern Bukovina back from Ukraine

LOL, if you're going to think like Putin, since Ukraine is much more powerful than Moldova, shouldn't they demand "historic lands" from Moldova?

Ukrainian lands in Moldova primarily refer to the Transnistria region (Pridnestrovie), a breakaway territory on the left bank of the Dniester River, which was historically linked to Ukraine.

It was part of the Ukrainian SSR from 1920–1940.

[Srednik]

Srednik, though only an average guy, believes you should call this a “reunification,” not a “union.” A union is “alta gasca in alta traista. (Another goose in another sack).”

[Larry Lucido]

[dfwgator]

Moronica for Morons!