Sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine, Moldova emerged as an independent republic after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Moldova is one of the poorest countries in Europe and its economy is heavily dependent on agriculture. Two-thirds of Moldovans are of Romanian descent, and the two countries share a common cultural heritage.
The industrialized region east of the Dniester River, commonly known as Transnistria or the Dniester region, was officially an autonomous region within Ukraine before 1940, when the Soviet Union merged with Bessarabia to form the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic.
The region is mainly inhabited by Russian- and Ukrainian-speaking people. Transnistria unilaterally declared independence from Moldova in 1990, as the local population became increasingly wary of the prospect of closer ties with Romania in the final years of the Soviet Union.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, the division between Moldova’s pro-Western and pro-Russian factions has deepened.
In May 2023, Gagauzia, a semi-autonomous region in southern Moldova, elected a new governor, Eugenia Gutul, with the aim of improving relations with Moscow.
In October 2024, the EU imposed sanctions on Gutul, his deputy Ilia Uzun, and two close aides for “attempts to destabilize Moldova” and “spreading Russian propaganda.”
