Moldova is completing the formal steps to withdraw from the Russia-led Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Foreign Minister Mihai Popsoi said on Monday. The country has not taken part in CIS activities since 2023 but has remained a member in legal terms.
Popsoi said Moldova is denouncing three founding agreements from 1991, a move that would end its membership under international law. "De facto we suspended participation, but de jure we are still there," he said.
President Maia Sandu, who is pursuing EU membership by the end of the decade, has accused Moscow of trying to destabilise her government and has strongly criticised Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Sandu was re-elected in 2024, and her party retained a parliamentary majority.
The decision was condemned by pro-Russian opposition leader and former president Igor Dodon, who called it unacceptable. Analysts said withdrawal from the CIS would not end Moldova's ties with former Soviet states but would shift relations to a bilateral basis. Moldova lies between Ukraine and EU member Romania and has long been divided between pro-European and pro-Russian political forces...