Sandu says possible union with Romania could strengthen Moldova’s security

Moldovan President Maia Sandu said on October 9 that a possible union with Romania could improve citizens’ security. She stressed that such a decision would require broad public support.

Sandu spoke to reporters at a security seminar in Chișinău, TASS reported. In her assessment, unification could bring greater security, but the decision must have the backing of a large number of citizens.

In a January interview with the British podcast The Rest Is Politics, Sandu said she would vote for unification with Romania if a referendum were held. She linked that position to international conditions and the challenges facing a small sovereign state. Economy Minister Eugeniu Osmochescu also described unification as an option if European integration failed.

On June 24, Romania’s Chamber of Deputies automatically approved a unification initiative under a tacit adoption procedure and forwarded it to the Senate. That procedural decision by the lower house did not itself unite the two countries. In Moldova, opponents of the idea have argued that it conflicts with national interests.