Moldova has signalled it would consider reunification with neighbouring Romania should its path to European Union membership be blocked, the country’s deputy prime minister Eugen Osmochescu has said.
In an interview with Euractiv, Osmochescu described unification with Romania as a possible option if Moldova’s EU accession process were to stall after 2028. “That’s Plan B,” he said.
His comments came as Chişinău pushed for the opening of its first “cluster” of EU membership negotiations, aligning national law with that of the bloc and seeking to keep up momentum amid mounting Russian pressure.
Osmochescu insisted, though, that Moldova’s aim remained signing an EU accession treaty by the end of 2028. Only if that process stalled would leaders seriously consider alternatives.
Asked whether Moldova risked being held back by having its bid tied to Ukraine’s, he said enlargement should stay merit-based but that Chişinău urgently needed tangible progress from Brussels.
“We need [to send] a signal to the population,” he said, pointing to continued Russian operations aimed at undermining support for EU integration.
A Russian strike in March on Ukraine’s Dniester hydroelectric plant caused an oil spill that polluted the Dniester River, a key water source for Moldova and southwestern Ukraine.
Osmochescu acknowledged his country lacked Ukraine’s capacity to withstand prolonged military pressure. “We are not as resilient as Ukrainians,” he said. “We don’t have a military industry. We don’t have an army comparable with the Ukrainian one.”
Euractiv reported that the European Commission expected the first “fundamentals” cluster of negotiating chapters on Ukraine and Moldova to open on June 16.
“If it happens in June, that we open the negotiations, then that would be a clear signal,” Osmochescu said. “That’s what we’re aiming for.”
The deputy prime minister also backed gradual integration or forms of associate membership, such as that recently pitched by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Under the proposal, an “associate member” would join councils of EU leaders and ministers without a vote.
Osmochescu said any step bringing Moldova closer to the bloc would help anchor reforms and reassure voters. Asked whether it would leave countries in limbo, as critics argue, he said it should be seen as a chance to “work harder”.
He argued that most Moldovans already held close cultural and family ties with Romania, with many holding Romanian citizenship. Support for reunification stands at around 40 per cent in Moldova — where roughly 850,000 of the country’s 2.4 million inhabitants hold Romanian passports — compared with about 70 per cent in Romania.
“There is a cost,” he acknowledged. “It will have to be absorbed by Romania and by the EU. But the cost wouldn’t be as huge as the one for the former [East and West] Germanies when they unified.”
