The relations of the Republic of Moldova - Romania in the context of the conflict in Ukraine

Abstract

The military aggression of the Russian Federation on Ukraine on February 24, 2022 accelerated not only the relations between the Republic of Moldova and the European Union, but also accelerated the relations of the Republic of Moldova with Romania. Although during the three decades of independence the Republic of Moldova had dynamic relations with Romania, the “special operation” carried out by the Russian Federation in Ukraine conditioned the acceleration of the Moldovan-Romanian political dialogue. Today, the acceleration of relations between the Republic of Moldova and Romania are dictated especially by the events in Ukraine, which oriented the vector of the foreign policy of the Republic of Moldova towards the European Union (EU). The purpose of this article is to highlight the main aspects present in the relations between the Republic of Moldova and Romania in the context of the conflict in Ukraine. We also aimed to highlight the main aspects of the Moldovan-Romanian dialogue in the context of the invasion of the Russian Federation in Ukraine on all dimensions: political-diplomatic, commercial-economic, energy, defense, and, including the social dimension. The events in Ukraine conditioned the strengthening of Moldovan-Romanian relations not only from the perspective of the common past, the affinities of race, language and culture, but also from the perspective of the irreversible orientation of the foreign policy vector of the Republic of Moldova versus the European Union.