
Republic of Moldova

The Republic of Moldova performs in the mid-range across all categories in the Global State of Democracy framework. It is amongst the top 25 per cent in the world in terms of its performance in Political Equality. Over the past five years, it has experience significant advances in Political Equality, Absence of Corruption and Judicial Independence. Moldova is a lower-middle-income country and is among the poorest in Europe, although growth rates have been strong since the early 2000s. The main sectors include agriculture, food processing, natural resources, and services. The Moldovan economy is also one of the most remittance-reliant countries in Europe.
Since its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, the country has undergone a slow transition to democracy. Moldova has struggled especially with issues of corruption, abuse of power, and state capture. From 2013 to 2019, the country was under the effective control of oligarch Vlad Plahotniuc, who together with businessman Ilan Shor abused state power to siphon off $1 billion from Moldova’s three largest banks. As corruption became a significant roadblock hindering economic growth, it also became one of the most dominant issues in the country’s politics. In successive elections in 2020 and 2021, Moldovans voted in strong numbers to elect pro-European Union (EU), anti-corruption reformers. Dissatisfaction with the pace of reform contributed to a far narrower margin of victory by President Maia Sandu in the 2025 presidential election.
Moldova is an ethnically diverse state with clear divides between pro-EU and pro-Russia sentiments. The separatist enclave of Transnistria is composed primarily of Russian speakers who favour close ties to Moscow, and pro-Russian sentiment is also widespread in the autonomous territory of Gagauzia. While ethnic Moldovans account for over 75 per cent of the population, there is significant disagreement as to whether their language and identity should be called Moldovan or Romanian. Historically, Moldova was part of Romania, and even today many Moldovans hold dual nationality. Large numbers of Moldovans favour reunification with Romania, and this number has grown in recent years.
GSoD Indices show that Moldova has made steady progress on gender equality in a timespan of two decades as well as more recently over the last five years. This may be attributed to the adoption of a series of laws and policies including on the prohibition of discrimination and women’s political empowerment. Yet gender equality remains challenged by violence against women, and inequality in health, employment, and unpaid care responsibilities.
Moldova is a country in transition, but its recent progress is notable. Given the governing party’s declared commitment to the rule of law and anti-corruption reforms, it will be important to watch potential continued growth in Representation, Rule of Law and Rights. In 2022, Moldova gained EU candidate status, although the road to membership is expected to be long. It will be important to watch how the Russian war on Ukraine and attempts to meddle in the Moldova’s politics impacts Basic Welfare and Credible Elections. Conversely, government efforts to fight Russian influence must walk a tightrope to avoid negatively impacting Civil Liberties, Free Political Parties and Freedom of the Press.
Last Updated: May 2025
https://www.idea.int/democracytracker/
August 2025
Regional governor Gutsul sentenced to seven years in prison
Evghenia Gutsul, the leader of the autonomous region of Gagauzia, was sentenced to seven years imprisonment for her role in funneling MLD 42.5 million (USD 2.5 million) from the exiled oligarch Ilan Shor to both finance the activities of his banned political party and to pay citizens to vote for it. Gutsul, who was also placed on a European Union sanctions list for her role in ‘destabilizing’ the region, allegedly at the behest of the Russian government, says she plans to appeal the conviction and that the charges are politically motivated. The judge overseeing the trial received pressure from unidentified people to rule in Gutsul’s favor, including receiving death threats if she did not comply, accompanied with photographs of corpses. Gutsul will, however, remain in office, as although a conviction is grounds for her removal, a separate legal proceeding is required. The sentence comes weeks before Moldova’s parliamentary election, scheduled on 28 September.
Sources: Ziarul de Gardă (1), Ziarul de Gardă (2), International IDEA (1), International IDEA (2)
May 2025
Moldova expands out of country postal voting
Parliament adopted a law on 29 May expanding out-of-country postal voting to Moldovans residing in Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea as well as providing more administrative resources to oversee the postal voting process. International postal voting was first implemented for Moldovans residing in six countries for the 2024 presidential election. The law also requires voter registration to be completed 30 days prior to the election and ballots to be received by the electoral commission 3 days before the election date. Registration was previously allowed up to 20 days before and ballots could be received 2 days before. At least one quarter of Moldova’s population, or between 1.2 million and 2 million people, is estimated to live abroad.
Sources: Ziarul de Gardă, Parliament of Moldova, Emerging Europe
March 2025
Shor-affiliated pro-Russian politicians face corruption charges
Moldovan MPs Alexander Nesterovschi and Irina Lozovan were sentenced to 12 and six years’ imprisonment (respectively) in absentia in March for their roles in laundering money for the fugitive Russia-based oligarch Ilan Shor to finance pro-Russian political politicians in Moldova. The cases mark the first convictions of sitting politicians as part of the anti-corruption investigators’ investigation into Shor’s network in the country. Both MPs are believed to have fled the country with the assistance of Russian diplomats. Another suspected participant in the scheme is the Bashkan (‘head’) of the autonomous region of Gagauzia, Evghenia Gutsul, who was detained on 28 March at Chisinau Airport while attempting to board a flight to Moscow. A Chisinau court placed Gutsul in preventive detention for an initial period of 20 days, marking the first time a sitting Bashkan has been arrested.
Sources: Reuters, The Moscow Times, Newsmaker, International IDEA
October 2024
Maia Sandu wins presidential election and EU referendum passes
Moldova held a two-round presidential election on 20 October and 3 November. The incumbent President Maia Sandu of the Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) led in the first round with 42.49 per cent of the vote, ahead of Alexandr Stoianoglo of the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova (PSRM), but short of the 50 per cent threshold required to avoid a second round. Sandu won the second round with 54.34 per cent of the votes. A referendum on enshrining European Union (EU) accession in Moldova’s constitution was also on the ballot on 20 October and passed by a narrow margin, with 50.46 per cent in favour. Voter turnout increased; turnout for the first round rose to 51.68 per cent from 48.54 per cent in 2020 and to 54.29 per cent from 52.76 per cent in the second round.
Sources: British Broadcasting Corporation, Comisia Electorala Centrala, Moldova Matters, The Guardian, Reuters, Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe
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