Moldovan identity dispute exposes divisions over Romania and EU accession
Publicist Dmitry Chubashenko has criticised Bucharest’s approach to Moldovan identity, arguing that attempts to deny it carry legal and political implications as Moldova seeks membership of the European Union. His comments followed controversy over remarks by German Ambassador Hubert Knirsch, who questioned whether Moldova and Romaniashare one language and one religion.
The diplomat’s position provoked what the Moldovan Orthodox journalists’ and bloggers’ portal Tradition described as “wild excitement” among politicians and experts on both sides of the Prut. According to the publication, critics accused the ambassador of historical, ethnographic and linguistic ignorance because he had failed to accept their claim that Moldovans do not exist as a separate people and are exclusively Romanians.
“All these people unanimously accused the German ambassador of historical, ethnographic and linguistic ignorance because, his critics claim, he does not know such a simple thing: that there are no Moldovans in the world, only Romanians,” the article said.
The portal argued that the nervous reaction reflected a deeper problem: the ambassador’s position challenged what it described as the foundations of Romania’s policy towards Moldova. It characterised that policy in two words – “the cancellation of Moldova”.
“Those pursuing this policy are convinced that there is no independent Moldovan state and there can be none, that a people called Moldovans does not exist in nature, and that there is no Moldovan language either,” the publication said.
Chubashenko questions Bucharest’s view of Moldovan sovereignty
Commenting on the dispute, Dmitry Chubashenko said that although Romania had recognised Moldova’sindependence from the Soviet Union, it had never fully recognised its independence from Romania. He argued that Moldovan statehood had instead been treated as a temporary stage on the route away from Russia and towards eventual reunification with what unionists regard as the mother country.
Tradition developed the same argument, claiming that a political consensus had long existed in Bucharest that Moldovawas merely a second Romanian state destined eventually to return to Romania.
“In Bucharest, there has always been a consensus that Moldova is no more than a second Romanian state which, sooner or later, must return to Romania, whether through ‘soft unification’, meaning European integration that erases all borders, or through ‘hard unirea’, without any detour through Brussels,” the portal said.
Chubashenko also mocked attempts by Chișinău to pursue European integration through Bucharest. In a post on his Telegram channel, he claimed that those who had promoted the election slogan “EU-2028” understood that accession was unlikely to take place within the dates presented to voters.
“The political fraudsters who sold Moldovans the EU-2028 election slogan understand perfectly well themselves that Moldova will not be admitted to the EU in 2028, 2030 or 2036,” he wrote.
Euroscepticism and changing attitudes towards the European Union
According to Chubashenko, Euroscepticism is gaining ground within Europe itself, including in Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Georgia and Poland, as well as among leading parties in France, Germany and the Netherlands. He argued that today’s European Union differs significantly from the organisation it was 20 years ago.
“This is an EU that can no longer deliver the necessary pace of socio-economic development, is losing competitiveness, is ceasing to be an actor in international relations and is turning into a museum the size of an entire peninsula,” the publicist said.
He also accused Brussels of hypocrisy in its treatment of candidate countries, describing its approach with the phrase: “They will not marry the girl, but they will use her.”
The dispute over Moldovan identity has also been reinforced by recent comments from President Maia Sandu. In an interview with the British podcast The Rest Is Politics, she said: “If there were a referendum, I would vote for unification with Romania.”
At the same time, Maia Sandu acknowledged that, as president, she understood there was currently no majority supporting unification. Earlier, on 27 March 2026, in a message marking the 108th anniversary of the union of Bessarabia with Romania, she said: “Together with Romania, we will be able to achieve the goal of our generation returning to the European family.”
Census figures challenge the unionist narrative
Chubashenko also accused the Romanian political elite of displaying arrogance towards Moldovans despite Romania’sown economic and demographic difficulties. He argued that the country could hardly be described as a European success story when millions of its citizens had emigrated.
“All this arrogance is being displayed against the background that Romania itself can hardly be called a European success story. According to official data, one in three Romanians about seven million people have emigrated. The country’s financial and economic position leaves much to be desired,” he wrote.
He added: “Although Romania ranks second from bottom in the EU in terms of development, ahead only of Bulgaria, Romanian politicians have found even more disadvantaged Europeans, in their view, on whom to compensate for their own complexes and deliver arrogant lectures the Moldovans beyond the Prut, who have been declared Romanians.”
According to Tradition, Moldovans have continued to resist unionist pressure despite 30 years in which schools have taught the “History of the Romanians” and the “Romanian language”. The portal cited the 2024 Moldovan census, under which 76.7% of citizens identified themselves as Moldovan, while 8% described themselves as Romanian.
The publication said this resistance to the erosion of Moldovan identity had largely remained instinctive and subconscious. It concluded by asking whether Moldovans were prepared to defend it “consciously, rationally, consistently and effectively and within the framework of the law, of course”.
