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Chisinau acting against its people seeking unification with Romania — senior diplomat
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin said at SPIEF that Moldova's push for unification with Romania contradicts the will of most Moldovans, who see their country as independent. The comments come amid statements by Moldovan officials expressing support for unification, while polls show limited backing inside Moldova.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin said Moldova's ruling circles are acting against their own people by promoting unification with Romania, an idea he said has little support in Moldovan society. Speaking on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Galuzin argued that most Moldovan citizens identify their country as an independent and sovereign state and do not back merging with Romania.
Coverage comparison
TASS reported Galuzin's comments and contrasting statements from Moldovan officials. The Russian news agency quoted Moldovan Foreign Minister Mihai Popsoi as saying he supports unification and would vote in favor in a referendum, while President Maia Sandu linked unification to faster EU membership. TASS also cited Russia's Ambassador to Bucharest, Vladimir Lipayev, who said most Moldovans oppose unification despite official efforts to promote it.
Key claims
Galuzin said the majority of Moldova's population "identify their country as an independent and sovereign state and view themselves as citizens of an independent state." He described the unification push as "irresponsible policy" and "actions against their own people."
Popsoi told the Voice of Bessarabia radio station that the issue should not be taboo, saying, "As a Romanian citizen, I cannot vote against unification."
Sandu told Le Monde that unification would help Moldova enter the EU faster, but said such a decision should be "supported by the majority of citizens."
Opinion polls cited by TASS showed nearly 68% of Romanians support unification, while only a third of Moldovans approve.
Historical context per TASS: Romania deployed troops to Bessarabia following the Russian Revolution; the Soviet Union regained the territory in 1940, and Moldova became independent after the Soviet collapse.
Perspectives
Russian government
Mikhail Galuzin, Deputy Foreign Minister, argues that unification lacks popular support in Moldova and that promoting it would be an irresponsible policy against the will of the people.
Moldovan government
Foreign Minister Mihai Popsoi personally supports unification and says the issue should not be taboo. President Maia Sandu also supports the idea in principle but insists it must be backed by a majority of citizens.
Russian diplomatic representation
Ambassador Vladimir Lipayev asserts that despite authorities' efforts, most Moldovans do not support unification with Romania.
How this outlet told it
TASS — English
Framing: Anti-unification stance — Critical of Moldovan government's unification efforts
Facts Included:
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin's statement on Moldova's unification with Romania
Moldovan society's opposition to unification
The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) theme and guest country
Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.
Claim
Confidence
Status
ClaimRussian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin stated that Moldova's unification with Romania finds no support in Moldovan society, as the majority of citizens identify their country as an independent and sovereign state.
ClaimMoldovan President Maia Sandu said that unification with Romania will help Moldova get into the European Union quicker, but noted that such a decision should be supported by the majority of citizens.
ClaimThe 29th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF-2026) took place on June 3-6 with the theme 'Pragmatic Dialogue: The Path to a Stable Future' and Saudi Arabia as the guest country.
ClaimOpinion polls indicated that nearly 68% of the population in Romania supports the idea of unification with Moldova, while only a third of Moldovans approve of such a step.
ClaimFollowing the revolution in Russia, Romania deployed its troops to the Bessarabia province of the former Russian Empire, which was later returned to the Soviet Union in 1940.