Why Russia and the EU Are Sparring Over Moldova

With a population of just 2.4 million and one of the smallest economies in Europe, Moldova barely registers by most European Union metrics. Yet the former Soviet republic wedged between EU member Romania and war-ravaged Ukraine has drawn outsized attention from the continent’s powerful democracies and Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

After decades under the Kremlin’s influence, the country started a concerted shift toward the EU in 2020, and four years later its people voted by a narrow majority to seek membership of the bloc.