After achieving independence from the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, the

Republic of Moldova A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...

established relations with other European countries. A course for

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

integration Integration may refer to: Biology *Multisensory integration *Path integration * Pre-integration complex, viral genetic material used to insert a viral genome into a host genome *DNA integration, by means of site-specific recombinase technology, ...

and neutrality define the country's foreign policy guidelines. In 1995, the country became the first

post-Soviet state The post-Soviet states, also known as the former Soviet Union (FSU), the former Soviet Republics and in Russia as the near abroad (russian: links=no, ближнее зарубежье, blizhneye zarubezhye), are the 15 sovereign states that wer ...

admitted to the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...

. In addition to its participation in

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

Partnership for Peace The Partnership for Peace (PfP; french: Partenariat pour la paix) is a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) program aimed at creating trust between the member states of NATO and other states mostly in Europe, including post-Soviet states; ...

program, Moldova is a

member state A member state is a state that is a member of an international organization or of a federation or confederation. Since the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) include some members that are not sovereign states ...

of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

, the

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, prom ...

(OSCE), the

North Atlantic Cooperation Council The Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) is a post–Cold War, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) institution. The EAPC is a multilateral forum created to improve relations between NATO and non-NATO countries in Europe and Central Asi ...

, the

World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. With effective cooperation in the United Nations System, governments use the organization to establish, revise, and e ...

, the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster globa ...

, the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...

, the

Francophonie Francophonie is the quality of speaking French. The term designates the ensemble of people, organisations and governments that share the use of French on a daily basis and as administrative language, teaching language or chosen language. The ...

and the

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is an international financial institution founded in 1991. As a multilateral developmental investment bank, the EBRD uses investment as a tool to build market economies. Initially focus ...

. In 2005, Moldova and EU established an action plan that sought to improve the collaboration between the two neighboring structures. After the Transnistria War, Moldova sought a peaceful resolution to the

Transnistria conflict The Transnistria conflict ( ro, Conflictul din Transnistria; russian: Приднестровский конфликт, Pridnestrovskiy konflikt) is an ongoing frozen conflict between Moldova and the unrecognized state of Transnistria. Its mo ...

by working with

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

, and Russia, calling for international mediation, and cooperating with the OSCE and UN fact-finding and observer missions.

Overview

Moldova has established diplomatic relations with 153 UN member states, the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

, the

Sovereign Military Order of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta ( it, Sovrano Militare Ordine Ospedaliero di San Giovanni di Gerusalemme, di Rodi e di Malta; ...

and the

. Moldova has not yet established diplomatic relations with the following UN countries: *Honduras, Trinidad and Tobago *Botswana, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, São Tomé and Príncipe, Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo *Bhutan, Iraq, Myanmar *Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Vanuatu

Relations with the European Union

Moldova aspires to join the European Union and is implementing its first three-year Action Plan within the framework of the

European Neighbourhood Policy The European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) is a foreign relations instrument of the European Union (EU) which seeks to tie those countries to the east and south of the European territory of the EU to the Union. These countries, primarily developing ...

(ENP) of the EU. As regards energy policy, Moldova was an observer to the treaty establishing Energy Community from the outset (2006). Following its interest in full membership, the European Commission was mandated to carry out negotiations with Moldova in 2007. In December 2009, the Energy Community Ministerial Council decided on the accession, but made it conditional to amendment of Moldova's gas law. Moldova joined the

Energy Community The Energy Community, commonly referred to as the Energy Community of South East Europe (ECSEE), is an international organization consisting of the European Union (EU) and a number of non-EU countries. It aims to extend the EU internal energy ...

as a full-fledged member in March 2010.

Relations with NATO

NATO relations with Moldova date back to 1992, when the country joined the

. Moldova works alongside NATO allies and partner countries in a wide range of areas through the

and the

Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council The Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) is a post–Cold War, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) institution. The EAPC is a multilateral forum created to improve relations between NATO and non-NATO countries in Europe and Central Asi ...

Relations with post-Soviet states

The Moldovan Parliament approved the country's membership in the

Commonwealth of Independent States The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an area of and has an estimated population of 239,796,010. ...

and the CIS charter on economic union in April 1994. Moldova however has never participated in any military aspects of CIS, citing its neutrality status. In 1998, Moldova contributed to the founding of

GUAM Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

, a regional cooperation agreement made up of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

and

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

. Although the agreement initially included a declaration of mutual defense, Moldova has since declared its disinterest in participating in any GUAM-based mutual defense initiative. Russia continues to maintain a military presence in the Transnistrian region of Moldova, despite previous agreements with Moldova and within OSCE and CAF to withdraw its troops and ammunition. Moldova was granted Observer Status in the Russian-led

Eurasian Union The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU or EEU)EAEU is the acronym used on thorganisation's website However, many media outlets use the acronym EEU. is an economic union of some post-Soviet states located in Eurasia. The Treaty on the Eurasian Econo ...

in April 2017.

Relations with Transnistria

The territory of Moldova includes the separatist

Transnistria Transnistria, officially the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), is an unrecognised breakaway state that is internationally recognised as a part of Moldova. Transnistria controls most of the narrow strip of land between the Dniester riv ...

region. Transnistria had a particularly large non-Moldovan population (about 60%) and broke away from Moldova less than a year after Moldova became independent at the

fall of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

. The

Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic Transnistria, officially the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), is an unrecognised breakaway state that is internationally recognised as a part of Moldova. Transnistria controls most of the narrow strip of land between the Dniester riv ...

controls main part of this region, and also the city of Bender and its surrounding localities on the west bank. The international diplomatic situation with respect to the question of Transnistria determines and is determined by Moldova's relations with Russia. Russia,

, EU, and United States are involved at different degrees in the conflict resolution.

Bilateral relations

Multilateral

Africa

Americas

Asia

Europe

Oceania

Gallery

File:Stamp of Moldova 173.gif, Moldovan stamp commemorating membership in the United Nations File:Stamp of Moldova 356.gif, Moldovan stamp commemorating membership in the

OSCE The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, prom ...

References

External links

Moldovan Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Overview

Relations with the European Union

Relations with NATO

Relations with post-Soviet states

Relations with Transnistria

Bilateral relations

Multilateral

Africa

Americas

Asia

Europe

Oceania

See also

Gallery

References

External links

Further reading