Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that plans floated by Moldova’s president to hold a referendum on reunification with Romania would be destructive to Moldovan statehood.
Lavrov made the comment during his annual press conference in Moscow, responding to recent statements by Moldovan President Maia Sandu. Sandu said last week she would vote in favour of unification with neighbouring Romania if a referendum were to take place, citing the need to protect Moldova’s fragile democracy against Russian pressure.
“If we have a referendum, I would vote for the unification with Romania,” Sandu said in an interview for the British podcast ‘The Rest is Politics’, broadcast on January 12. She added: “Look at what is happening in the world. 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.”
Lavrov described such plans as destructive, stating that they would undermine Moldova’s statehood. Moldova, a former Soviet republic of around 2.4 million people with a Romanian-speaking majority and a Russian-speaking minority, has accused Russia of meddling in its affairs.
Sandu, whose pro-EU ruling party won a new mandate in parliamentary elections last September, has repeatedly accused Russia of interference. Moldova said on Monday it was proceeding with formalities to complete its withdrawal from the Russia-led Commonwealth of Independent States.
Romania is a member of the European Union and NATO. Moldova has set a goal of EU accession by 2030 but faces domestic opposition and Russian pressure. Moldova was part of Romania during the interwar period but was annexed by the Soviet Union during World War Two, gaining independence in 1991.
Recent polls have shown that only around one-third of Moldovans support reunification with Romania, though about 1.5 million Moldovans hold Romanian citizenship. Sandu has described EU integration as a “more realistic objective.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to requests for additional comment.
