Moldova Prepares to Fully Align With EU Sanctions on Russia and Belarus
Moldovan Foreign Minister Mihai Popșoi said the country intends to fully adopt the EU's sanctions policy toward Russia and Belarus. Chisinau has already matched 91% of the measures and is working on the rest.
Moldova intends to fully join the European Union's sanctions regime against Russia and Belarus as it works toward EU membership. Foreign Minister Mihai Popșoi said so on Monday at an EU enlargement conference, according to the Interfax news agency. The step forms part of Chisinau's push to enter the bloc, with 2030 set as the target date.
Popșoi said Moldova has already matched 91% of EU sanctions on the two countries, with a "small lag" in the sectoral sanctions package introduced in 2014. He added that officials are now looking for solutions and the necessary mechanisms.
Moldova applied for EU membership after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 and began official accession talks two years later.
Visa requirements and opposition criticism
Last week, Prime Minister Vasile Tofan told local television that Chisinau will eventually introduce visa requirements for Russian and Belarusian citizens as part of European integration, if EU norms demand it. He declined to name specific deadlines.
The planned alignment has been criticized by Moldova's pro-Russian opposition. Former president and socialist party leader Igor Dodon accused the ruling pro-EU party on Facebook of taking destabilizing steps, asking what benefit such a hostile policy would bring. In his view, it would bring the population only new suffering.
Energy independence
On Sunday, President Maia Sandu inaugurated a major power line linking the Moldovan grid directly with neighboring Romania, which allows the country to bypass electricity supplied by Transnistria, the Russia-backed breakaway region. Sandu wrote on X that Moscow had used energy to blackmail Moldova for decades and that the country buys no Russian gas. The U.S. Embassy in Chisinau said last month that the line would be called the "Trump Liberty Line"; the Moldovan government said it had no objection to the name.
