Klaus Werner Iohannis,sometimes referred to by his initials KWI in the Romanian press,is a Romanian politician,physicist,and former physics teacher who has been serving as the president of Romania since 2014. He became the president of the National Liberal Party (PNL) in 2014,after previously serving as the leader of the Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania (FDGR/DFDR) between 2002 and 2013. Prior to entering national politics,he was a physics teacher at the Samuel von Brukenthal National College in his native Sibiu.
The European Social Democratic Party is a centre-left,populist social-democratic political party in Moldova. Established in 1997,the party holds pro-European views,and is an associate member of the Party of European Socialists (PES) and a full member of the Socialist International. According to its statute,the PSDE pleads that Moldova is an independent,sovereign,and democratic state,based on law,and integrated in the united family of European democracies. Reflecting former leader Marian Lupu's views,but also the strong influence of the Moldovan Orthodox Church,the party is more conservative on social issues,such as LGBT rights.
Oleg Serebrian is a Moldovan politician,writer,diplomat and political scientist,President of the Latin Union between 2010 and 2012.
The unification of Moldova and Romania is a popular concept in the two countries that began during the Revolutions of 1989. The Romanian Revolution in 1989 and the independence of Moldova in 1991 further contributed to the development of a movement for the unification of the two Romanian-speaking countries. The question of reunification is recurrent in the public sphere of the two countries,often as a speculation,both as a goal and a danger. Though historically Romanian support for unification was high,a 2022 survey during the Russian invasion of Ukraine indicated that only 11% of Romania's population supports an immediate union,while over 42% think it is not the right moment.
Dan Stoenescu is a Romanian career diplomat,political scientist and journalist. He was a minister in the technocratic government of Prime Minister Dacian Cioloș.
Ion Costaș is a Moldovan military officer and a former minister of interior (1990–1992) and Defence (1992).
Vlad Lupan is the former Ambassador,Permanent Representative of the Republic of Moldova to the United Nations. Between 2010-2011 he was a Member of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova,Deputy Chairman of the Liberal Party. He is a former diplomat from the Republic of Moldova. He has been the Foreign Policy Advisor to the President of Moldova since August 2010. Vlad Lupan served for 12 years in the diplomatic service of his country and in his last posting he was the director of the NATO Department in the Ministry of the Foreign Affairs and European Integration of Moldova. Since 2008 he was a civil society expert on EU,NATO,security sector reform issues,as well as an external efficiency evaluator and,at the same time,had his show on Vocea Basarabiei radio station.
Igor Dodon is a Moldovan politician who previously served as the President of Moldova from 23 December 2016 to 24 December 2020. He currently serves as the leader of the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova. He served as Minister of Economy and Trade in the governments of Vasile Tarlev and Zinaida Greceanîi from September 2006 to September 2009 and was a member of the Parliament of Moldova from 2009 to 2016. He lost his bid for re-election in 2020 to Maia Sandu,whom he had defeated four years earlier in the 2016 Moldovan presidential election.
Maia Sandu is a Moldovan politician who has been the President of Moldova since 24 December 2020. She is the founder and former leader of the Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) and former Prime Minister of Moldova from 8 June 2019 until 14 November 2019,when the government collapsed after a vote of no-confidence. Sandu was Minister of Education from 2012 to 2015 and member of the Parliament of Moldova from 2014 to 2015,and again in 2019. Sandu was elected President of Moldova in a landslide victory during the 2020 Moldovan presidential election. The first female president of Moldova,Sandu is a strong supporter of the accession of Moldova to the European Union,overseeing Moldova's granting of candidate status,and is considered 'pro-Western'. She has criticised and opposed Russia's invasion of Ukraine and supported subsequent steps to reduce Moldova's economic dependence on Russia,frequently expressing sympathy and support for Ukraine in the conflict. Sandu has made anti-corruption,economic reform and liberalisation a central part of her political platform,as well as closer integration with Europe. In February 2023,she accused Russia of seeking to stage a coup of the Moldovan government and has continued to seek to reduce Russia's influence over the country.
The People's Movement Party is a minor extra-parliamentary national-conservative and social conservative political party in Romania.
Starting in the spring of 2015,Moldova experienced large-scale protests amid a worsening economic situation and corruption scandals. The protests gained momentum in September,when up to 100,000 people demonstrated in the largest protest since Moldova's independence from the Soviet Union in August 1991.
Andrei Năstase is a Moldovan politician serving as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Internal Affairs from 8 June 2019 to 12 November 2019. He was member of Parliament of Moldova in 2019. Năstase was the leader of the Dignity and Truth Platform from 2015 to 2021.
Ion Chicu is a Moldovan economist and politician who served as Prime Minister of Moldova between 2019 until his resignation in 2020.
Mișcarea PoliticăUnirea is a right-wing political party of the Republic of Moldova. It was founded on 15 January 2020,after the initiative of five parties to join forces to fight for the unification of Moldova and Romania. The party participated in the 2020 Moldovan presidential election with its candidate,Dorin Chirtoacă,finishing last after receiving 1.2% of the votes.
George Nicolae Simion is a Romanian right-wing politician and civic activist. He is the president of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR),a Romanian political party that gained prominence after its unexpectedly strong showing in the 2020 Romanian legislative election.
Igor Grosu is a Moldovan politician who is the President of the Parliament of Moldova since 29 July 2021. He has been a member of the Moldovan Parliament since March 2019. Grosu has been the leader of the Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) since 9 December 2020.
During the COVID-19 pandemic,Romania has supported Moldova on several occasions,supplying it with medical equipment and supplies,volunteer Romanian experts and doctors and even a series of COVID-19 vaccine units that arrived on 27 February 2021,which allowed Moldova to start its vaccination program.
The so-called Berlin Plus package is the name given to a series of eight points that were agreed to be implemented in a protocol signed in 2016 during a meeting of the 5+2 format that took place on that year in Berlin,Germany,to improve the situation of the Transnistria conflict between Moldova and the unrecognized breakaway state of Transnistria. These eight points,which had been under negotiation since 2012,are the following:
Olga Cebotari is a Moldovan politician and diplomat. She served as Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration of the Republic of Moldova in the Chicu Cabinet.
On 18 September 2022,protests in Moldova began in the capital city of Chișinău,demanding the resignation of the country's pro-Western government,amid an energy crisis causing rising natural gas prices and inflation,caused in part by the war in Ukraine.
