About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

1 1 (April 16, 2024)

handle is hein.crs/govepul0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional Research Service lnforrr ing the legislative debate since 1914 Updated April 16, 2024 Moldova: An Overview Moldova is one of three post-Soviet states-together with Ukraine and Georgia-that seek greater integration with the West in the face of Russian resistance and territorial occupation. Members of Congress may assess U.S. efforts to support Moldova's democratic trajectory and European integration, as well as conflict resolution processes concerning Moldova's breakaway, Russia-backed Transnistria region. Moldova's president and governing party were elected on pro-European platforms in 2020 and 2021. Their reform- oriented agenda was buoyed by the European Union's (EU's) June 2022 decision to name Moldova a candidate for EU membership. The United States and the EU have supported Moldova's efforts to implement EU-related reforms while taking steps to curtail Russian influence and address the impacts of Russia's war against Ukraine. Moldova's leadership has warned that a Russian victory could expose Moldova to Russian aggression. Politcal and Economic Background Moldova's political environment has been contentious since 2009, when Western-oriented parties first unseated a Communist Party-led government. In 2021, President Maia Sandu's reform-oriented Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) won snap parliamentary elections. PAS's victory marked the first time in 20 years that a party received an absolute majority of votes in a parliamentary election. The party's victory, and the formation of a single-party government, ended years of rule by unstable coalitions that often included allegedly corrupt political forces. Prime Minister Dorin Recean has led the government since February 2023. Moldova is due to hold a presidential election in late 2024. Parliamentary elections are due by mid-2025. President Sandu was directly elected in 2020, defeating incumbent Igor Dodon in a second-round vote. Dodon was the de facto head of the Russia-leaning, socially conservative Party of Socialists, the former ruling party; he is currently under investigation on charges related to corruption and treason. The presidency holds symbolic importance but has relatively limited formal powers under Moldova's parliamentary system. Sandu is seeking a second term in Moldova's 2024 presidential election. In the 2021 parliamentary elections, PAS won 53% of the vote and 63 of 101 seats. A Socialist-led bloc won 27% of the vote and 32 seats. The third party to enter parliament, the populist, Russia-leaning Shor Party (banned in 2023, see below), was led by political and business figure Ilan Shor, who fled the country in 2019 while appealing a seven-year sentence for his role in a $1 billion bank fraud scandal from 2014; in April 2023, an appeals court sentenced Shor in absentia to 15 years in prison and ordered the confiscation of nearly $300 million in assets. The PAS government pledged to strengthen the rule of law and has adopted some reforms related to Moldova's EU membership bid. Moldovan officials have stated that challenges arising from Russia's war against Ukraine- including inflation and high energy costs-slowed reform efforts. One ofEurope's poorest countries, Moldova has made significant progress in reducing poverty and promoting inclusive growth, according to the World Bank. Moldova's annual gross domestic product (GDP) declined by 8% in 2020 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic but rebounded in 2021 with 14% growth. GDP declined by 5% in 2022, due in part to the impact of Russia's war against Ukraine, and grew by 2% in 2023. An estimated 1 million or more Moldovans live abroad; remittances are estimated at about 15% of GDP. Figure I. Moldova at a Glance Notes: Figure created by CRS using the National Bureau of Statistics of the Republic of Moldova (does not include Transnistria). Impact of Russa's War on Ukra ne Russia's war against Ukraine has created new challenges for Moldova. After Russia launched its expanded invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, concerns arose that Russia would also seek to invade Moldova, using control of territory in southern Ukraine and its military presence in Transnistria. With a resident population of under 3 million, Moldova hosts more than 115,000 refugees from Ukraine. Since 2022, Russian-leaning political parties and individuals in Moldova have come under greater scrutiny as part of broader government efforts to curtail Russian influence. Ilan Shor and other Russia-connected actors allegedly have sought to foment unrest in Moldova,

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most