The Washington Post: Sandu’s Election Can Improve Relations with the US, EU and Romania

Since Maia Sandu was elected President of Moldova, the republic’s relations with the US, EU and Romania may improve. This opinion was expressed by the authoritative American outlet The Washington Post. The publication believes that the new President of Moldova “is likely to seek closer ties with Europe. Russia won’t be pleased,” infotag.md reports. “Relations with Russia may change, and Moscow’s influence on Moldova’s foreign and domestic policy in this case will weaken. True, Sandu is trying not to provoke Russia into hostility. She has promised to develop relations with Moscow, while bringing her country closer to the West,” Marius Ginch’s article reads. According to him, Russia, nevertheless, “will retain a certain influence in the Republic of Moldova, since Moscow, in fact, controls the breakaway Transnistrian region, which declared independence in 1992”. Also, Moldova “may be drawn into the frozen conflict in Ukraine, with which it has a common border of 930 km, or be involved in some large-scale actions of Russia in this region.”