The minimum you must know

The Republic of Moldova is a non-coastal former Soviet Union state surrounded on all sides by Romania and Ukraine that has many Romanian and Russian-speaking people, who the Prime Minister says prefers to align for security with the European side.

Control of Moldova was contested in the 1940s between Romania and Russia. Russia fully controlled the country until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. Culturally Moldova shares a lot in common with Russia.

Moldova is currently being considered for European Union membership. Moldova was one of the least developed countries in the region in the late 1990s but seems to have developed politically and economically fast enough to seem similar to some European states. Moldova could receive the opportunity to join the European marketplace. As a practical matter, Moldova will trade with the European side because the bordering countries trade with the west.

The United States and Europe are currently improving relations with Russia. So perhaps Moldova can be offered non-NATO European Union membership. Russia would obviously be far more welcoming of expansion of the European marketplace to the extent Russian national security is respected. Any country would feel that way.

Moldova is at peace globally.