Sixty members of parliament, including 59 from the ruling Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS), voted in favor of the declaration. Parties with close ties with Moscow refused to participate in the vote.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Moldova on May 29 to meet with President Maia Sandu and announce support worth $50 million to help Chisinau transition away from Russian energy dependence and further integrate with the EU, amid warnings of heightened hybrid threats from Russia.
"It (partnership) will allow to jointly address common security challenges, make our engagement more effective and explore new areas of cooperation," European Union's top diplomat Josep Borrell said.
The European Council agreed to open accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova last December. Chisinau has moved closer to Europe over recent months amid repeated warnings that the Kremlin is attempting to carry out a destabilization campaign inside the country's borders.
Moldova and the EU intend to sign a security agreement in the next week, increasing cooperation in the spheres of defense, cyber threats, and foreign interference to "unprecedented levels," the Financial Times reported on May 14.
One of the main priorities of Poland's EU presidency next year will be the accession efforts of Ukraine, Moldova, and Western Balkan countries, Polish President Andrzej Duda said on May 1, RMF 24 reported.
Members of Moldova's pro-Russian opposition parties met in Moscow on April 21 to establish a new anti-European political bloc aimed at derailing Moldova's planned accession to the European Union, Bloomberg reported.
Passengers and staff were evacuated from the Chisinau International Airport in Moldova's capital on April 21 due to an explosion threat.
The U.S. is deepening cooperation with the Moldovan government amid potential threats from Russia to undermine its stability, Ned Price, deputy to the U.S. representative to the U.N., told a Kyiv Independent reporter on April 11.
The European Union plans to provide lethal military aid to Moldova, EU Ambassador to Moldova Janis Mazeiks told reporters in Chisinau on April 10.
The drone allegedly attacked a military facility in the Rybnitsa district, six kilometers from the Ukrainian state border, as of 2:35 p.m. local time.
Fragments of what appears to be a Russian Shahed-type attack drone have been found in Moldova, around 500 meters from the border with Ukraine, the Moldovan Border Police reported on April 4.
Romania's Defense Ministry has proposed a draft law that would enable its troops to be deployed to protect Romanian citizens outside of Romania's territory, Romanian newspaper Adevarul reported on April 3.
Moldovan, Romanian, and American troops are holding joint exercises JCET-2024 (Joint Combined Exchange Training) in Moldova between April 1 and 19, the Moldovan military said.
Interior Ministry put Vitaly Ignatiev, the chief negotiator for Moldova's Russian-occupied Transnistria region, on the wanted list in Ukraine. The corresponding publication appeared on the Interior Ministry's database tracing non March 29.
President Volodymyr Zelensky approved on March 29 Oleksiy Danilov, the former National Security and Defense Council secretary, as the next Ukrainian ambassador to Moldova.
The decree on Marko Shevchenko's dismissal was published on the Presidential Office's website on March 29.
Moldovan Foreign Minister Mihai Popsoi announced on March 19 that a Russian diplomat had been expelled from the country after Russian presidential elections were held in Transnistria, a region internationally recognized as part of Moldova.
Moldova's Bureau of Reintegration said that the "military technique in the images has not been functional for several years" but did not clarify which "technique" it referred to.
A drone hit a military base in Transnistria, in the Russian-controlled region of Moldova, local Telegram channel "Pervyi Prydnestrovskyi" claimed on March 17. The Telegram channel also published a video allegedly showing a helicopter being hit by a drone. The Kyiv Independent couldn't independently verify the claim.
The bilateral defense pact lays the groundwork for future military training, intelligence sharing, and increased defense consultation between the two countries.
Alexandru Musteata, the head of the Moldovan intelligence agency (SIS), said that the SIS possesses "certain information" about Russia's destabilization campaign in the next two years designed to compromise Chisinau's European integration and draw the country back into the Kremlin's orbit.
Ukraine plans to export a record 13 gigawatt hours of electricity to other countries on March 4, namely to Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Moldova, Ukrenergo, Ukraine's state-owned energy operator, announced.
When there was no mention of Transnistria — Moldova's Russia-led breakaway region — in Vladimir Putin's speech on Feb. 29, Moldovans sighed with relief. A day prior, the leaders of the unrecognized breakaway entity, sandwiched between Ukraine and Moldova, had asked Russia for "protection" — a plea that some saw as an invitation
The Kremlin has yet to signal an immediate route for escalation following the appeal of lawmakers in the Russian-controlled Moldovan region of Transnistria, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said in its latest assessment.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said that Moscow would "consider with attention" the appeal of authorities from the Moscow-controlled Moldovan region of Transnistria for "protection," the Russian state-controlled media RBC wrote on Feb. 28.
The leaders of Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, and Ukraine signed a joint declaration in support of Ukraine while denouncing Russian aggression during a summit in Tirana on Feb. 28.
Lawmakers in the Russian-controlled Moldovan region of Transnistria have appealed to Moscow to help end an "economic blockade" by Moldova, Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti reported on Feb. 28.
A Russian Shahed-type attack drone crossed the border with Moldova overnight, flying over the Moldovan territory "for several tens of kilometers," Ukraine's Southern Defense Forces reported on Feb. 27.
Concerns arose after the Institute for the Study of War issued a warning on Feb. 22 that Transnistria was possibly planning to organize a referendum on its annexation to Russia at an announced Transnistrian Congress of Deputies planned for Feb. 28.
Key developments on Feb. 20: * Ombudsman asks UN, Red Cross to investigate execution of Ukrainian POWs in Avdiivka * Sweden unveils its largest defense aid package for Ukraine worth $682 million * Death toll of Russian attack on Sumy Oblast rises to 5 * German media: Germany plans to send long-range missile systems,
Counting today's donation, the EU's executive arm has devoted 923 million euros ($999 million) to humanitarian aid to civilians affected by Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine since February 2022.
(Updated: )
