+373 is the dialing code for Moldova.
The Republic of Moldova is wedged between the major neighboring countries Romania and Ukraine. Until 1991, Moldova was part of the Soviet Union. When the Reformed Communist Party won the 2001 election, it was the first time that Communists in the former Soviet Union regained government power in a democratic way. Since 2009, the country has been ruled by a coalition of EU-friendly center-right parties. In foreign policy, the conflict around the transnistrian republic creates problems.
- Abbreviationfinder: Brief profiles of Moldova, including geography, history, politics, economics as well as common acronyms about this country.
Geography and climate
Moldova is located just northwest of the Black Sea in southeastern Europe. The country is surrounded in the north, east and south by Ukraine. To the west, it is bounded against Romania by the river Prut, which at the southern tip of Moldova merges with the Danube.
Near a long stretch of the border with Ukraine flows the river Dnestr (Nistru in Romanian). The area between Dnestr and the Ukrainian border is made up of the Transnistrian breakaway Republic (or the Dnestr Republic; see also Transnistria).
Between the two rivers spreads a plain, which is hilly in the north and south. More than half of the land area is cultivated, while forests, mainly oak and beech, cover almost a tenth. The northern and southern parts of Moldova consist of steppe.
Country Facts
Geography
| Cultivated land | 74.9 % |
| Land area | 33851 km 2 |
Population and health
| Population development | -1.03 ‰ |
| Urban population (Urbanization) | 45 % |
| Death rate | 12.59 per 1000 residents |
| Life expectancy: Women | 74.54 years |
| Life expectancy: Men | 66.55 years |
| Birth rate | 12 births per 1000 residents |
| HDI index | 0.693 |
| Population | 3546847 |
| Infant mortality | 12.59 deaths / 1000 births |
Population Graph Source: Countryaah.com
Energy
| Electricity, production | 3574 million kWh |
| Energy consumption per resident | 920 kg. oil per resident |
| Natural gas, production | million cubic meters |
| Crude oil, production | million tons |
Infrastructure
| Internet users | 44.8 per 100 residents |
| Mobile subscriptions | 104 per 100 residents |
| Passenger cars | 156 per 1000 residents |
Business and economics
| Unemployment | 6% of the workforce |
| GDP | 5000 per resident |
| Primary occupations | 40 % |
| Secondary profession | 13 % |
| Tertiary professions | 47 % |
Only a few percent of the land area is nature protected, and there are no national parks.
Moldova has a temperate continental climate. This means that summers are long and warm, while winters are relatively mild. The precipitation falls mainly from May to July. Mostly it rains in the north, least in the south.
Surface
33,800 km2 (2018)
Time
Swedish +1 hour
Adjacent country (s)
Romania, Ukraine
Capital with number of residents
Chișinău 554 600
Other major cities
Tiraspol 132 100, Balti 97 200, Tighina (Bender) 90 600 (estimated 2012)
Highest mountain
Balanesti (429 m asl)
Important rivers
Prut, Dnestr (Nistru)
2017
December
The ambassador in Russia is called home
December 18
Moldova calls home its ambassador to Russia for the time being. The reason is, according to the Moldovan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that the harassment of Russian authorities has increased recently and that the Russian government has not responded to Moldova’s request for an explanation for this. The measure is aimed at preventing anything from happening that damages relations between the two countries, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the media. President Dodon, who has warm relations with Russia, says he is furious at the Foreign Ministry’s decision, which he believes is yet another expression of how the EU-friendly government is trying to undermine relations with Moscow.
November
Progress in the Transnistrian conversation
November 28
“Important progress” has been made in the so-called 5 + 2 talks in Vienna on a solution to the conflict over Transnistria, the OSCE regional cooperation organization announces. The parties have agreed that the bridge over the Dniestr border river destroyed in the 1992 war should be reopened, and Moldova and Transnistria have agreed that people should move freely across the bridge. Transnistria has agreed to allow Moldovan-speaking schools, while Transnistrian university degrees are to be recognized in Moldova. In the 5 + 2 talks Moldova, Transnistria, OSCE, Russia, Ukraine, USA and the EU participate. The talks will continue after the New Year.
October
The President is temporarily dismissed
October 24th
Parliament votes to temporarily oust President Dodon for the government to appoint a new defense minister. In the absence of the President, it is the President of Parliament who leads the ceremony in which Eugen Sturza is sworn into the government against the will of Dodon. Moldova has been without Defense Minister for ten months.
The president risks being shut down
October 17
The Constitutional Court says President Dodon may be temporarily suspended after twice refusing to approve the appointment of a new Secretary of Defense. Dodon justifies his refusal that the proposed person is not a professional military. The President of the Court says that the President is obliged to accept the person appointed by the Prime Minister, but Dodon claims that the President has exceeded his powers and threatens to trigger street demonstrations.
The EU holds backing loans
October 11
The EU is deciding, so far, not to pay out EUR 28 million of a major loan for reforms of the Moldovan judiciary, as the government says, according to the EU, did not live up to the terms of the loan. Moldova must show greater respect for human rights and the rule of law in order to get the money, the EU announces.
September
Citizenship should be available for purchase
September 27th
The government decides that foreign investors can be granted Moldovan citizenship under certain conditions. They must either invest at least a quarter of a million euros for five years in real estate or government bonds or lend at least EUR 100,000 to the government investment fund. But citizenship must also presuppose that they know and respect the Moldovan constitution, have a good financial reputation and pose no threat to the security of the country. The issue has been the subject of hot debate for a long time. Critics fear that the promise of citizenship should attract black money to the country. President Dodon was criticized earlier in 2017 for trying to attract Russian investors to Moldova through promises of citizenship that would allow them to travel freely to the EU.
Moldova is seeking UN support against Russian troops
September 22
Prime Minister Filip is appealing to the UN for help in removing the Russian military force from the Transnistrian breakaway republic. The Russian force consists of 1,500 men who, according to Moscow, guard a Soviet stockpile of weapons, and 500 men in a peacekeeping force who monitor the 1992 ceasefire between the separatists and the Moldovan army. Filip says that a solution to the locked situation could be that the peacekeeping squad is transformed into a multinational force with an international mandate.
Continued power struggle
September 13
President Dodon accuses the government and Parliament of trying to take away from him the powers of power he holds as commander-in-chief. He is responding to a decision by Prime Minister Filip to convene Parliament for an extra session to vote down the president’s veto against several decisions taken by Parliament. The president threatens to call a referendum “to show who the people have confidence in”. At the same time, he announces via a social media that he refuses to approve the government’s choice of new defense minister. Instead, he wants one of his own confidants.
Conflict over NATO cooperation
September 5
President Dodon denies a request from the Department of Defense to send 57 Moldovan soldiers to a NATO exercise in western Ukraine. The decision has the most symbolic significance but is a sign of the deep gap between the pro-Russian president and the EU-friendly government. The government, however, decides to ignore the president’s ban and allow the soldiers to participate in the exercise, which greatly upsets Dodon. He suggests that he may try to oust the prime minister for not obeying the commander’s orders. “It’s unacceptable,” Dodon says, adding that he does not intend to forget this. He demands that the acting defense minister Gheorghe Galbura be dismissed.
August
Liberal Party sues the president
August 29th
The small Liberal Action and Solidarity Party submits a lawsuit against President Dodon to the Prosecutor’s Office. The party accuses the president of betrayal and of so fragmenting the country in favor of Russia. President Dodon has attracted attention for his strongly Russian-friendly statements, and for, among other things, congratulated the leader of the Transnistrian outbreak state in victory in a presidential election not recognized by the outside world. The Action and Solidarity Party (Partidul Acțiune și Solidaritate, PAS) was founded in 2016 and is led by Maia Sandu who lost quite a bit against Dodon in the presidential election that year.
Russian top politician is banned
August 2
The government declares Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin undesirable in Moldova for “gross interference with the country’s affairs”. The Russian Foreign Ministry is filing a vigorous protest against the Moldovan government’s “irresponsible behavior”, which according to Moscow is only aimed at damaging relations between the countries.
July
Moldova does not have to visit Russia
July 28
A visit by Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin will not be missed. He should have met President Dodon and visited the Transnistrian breakaway republic with him. But since he was banned from entering the EU since 2014 because of his support for the Russian annexation of Ukrainian Crimea, his aircraft were not allowed into either Hungarian or Romanian airspace. Ukraine has its own ban on Russian military flights. His plan is to go down in Minsk, Belarus to refuel. Before that, the Moldovan aviation authorities said that Rogozin would not be allowed to land there.
Presidential decree is rejected by court
July 27
The Constitutional Court ruled that President Dodon violated his powers when in March he called for a referendum on increased power for the president. Among other things, the residents would decide whether the president would be entitled to dissolve parliament and announce new elections. Another question was whether the number of Members in Parliament would be reduced.
The president’s tribute to the Russians is upset
July 26
President Igor Dodon decides to award a high government award to both the Russian soldiers in Transnistria and to the state’s own military force. It will be on the 25th anniversary of the arrival of the Russian so-called peace force to the region. Dodon will travel to Transnistria together with Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin. Spokespeople for the EU-friendly Moldovan government accuse the president of violating the country’s constitution by paying tribute to “those who shot at our volunteers in 1992”.
The electoral law changes despite protests
July 20
Parliament is voting on a proposal by Prime Minister Filip to change the electoral system so that 51 of Parliament’s 101 members will be elected in one-man constituencies and the rest according to party lists. Thousands of people are protesting against the change that will make it more difficult for small parties to be represented (see Political system). The Council of Europe’s Venice Commission, which is reviewing constitutional issues, has also criticized the new electoral law and warned that candidates in one-man constituencies run the risk of being subjected to undue pressure.
June
EU aid is conditional
June 15
The EU decides to provide Moldova with EUR 100 million in loans and assistance, provided that the Chișinău government signs an agreement to sharpen its efforts against corruption in the state apparatus and the financial sector.
May
Russian diplomats are expelled
May 29th
Five diplomats at the Russian Embassy are ordered to leave Moldova within three days. No public explanation is given as to why they are declared undesirable in the country. President Dodon is jealous of the decision, explaining that the “unfriendly act is likely to take place on orders from the Western powers” to damage a “constructive dialogue” with Russia. In March, there were reports that a former member of the Moldovan parliament had provided secret information to an employee of the Russian Embassy. There have also been allegations against the Russian security service for trying to sabotage a Moldovan investigation into money laundering with suspected Russian interference. As expected, Russia responds with the expulsion of five Moldovan diplomats.
The EU-friendly government is faltering
May 29th
The Liberal Party leaves the government in protest against the party’s vice-president Dorin Chirtoacă, who is also mayor of Chisinău arrested for suspected abuse of power in connection with public procurement in the capital. The arrest means that the Liberal Minister for the Environment resigns and is expected to be followed by the two other members of the party. For the time being, the EU-friendly government retains the majority in Parliament.
March
Delayed census completed
March 31st
After a long delay, the 2014 census is published. It shows that the population has fallen to less than 2.9 million, a decline of more than 13 percent since 2004, when 3.4 million people were written in Moldova. The census also shows a strong female surplus, 100 women of 94 men. The figures do not include Transnistria, which is estimated to have around 505,000 residents.
The President wants to strengthen his power
March 28
President Dodon orders that an advisory referendum be held, including that the president be given the right to dissolve Parliament and announce new elections.
Russian money laundering is being examined
March 23rd
Prosecutors are investigating a tavern in which Moldovan courts are suspected of having helped Russian businessmen “launder” the equivalent of around $ 21 billion illegally brought out of Russia and further diverted via Moldova. The investigation will apply to 14 judges, four senior officials at the central bank and nine employees of commercial banks.
February
Dodon hurts Natonarming
February 7
President Dodon urges NATO to “take it easy” in setting up an office in Moldova. He says that approaching NATO could threaten Moldova’s neutrality and damage its security.
January
Moldova is drawing ever closer to Russia
January 23
President Dodon, who recently said it was “premature” to conclude a cooperation agreement with the EU, says it is necessary to create a common platform with Russia for the country to ever be fully reunited. He has given up hope that Moldova will be able to join the EU, as Transnistria and Gagauzi are so strongly opposed to it.
Meeting with the President of Transnistria
January 5
President Dodon meets Transnistrian leader Vadim Krasnoselskij. They are said to have talked about, among other things, the free movement of citizens, train connections and the recognition of documents. Dodon has promised to resolve the Transnistrian issue during his time in office. The topic is high on the agenda when he meets with Russian President Putin on January 17.