Romania's lower house of parliament has automatically advanced a bill declaring that Romania and neighboring Moldova should become a single sovereign state and calling for negotiations on unification after lawmakers failed to debate it before a legal deadline.
The procedure, known as tacit adoption, means a bill is treated as approved by one chamber if parliament does not act on it within a prescribed period.
The proposal will now be considered by the Senate, the upper house and final decision-making chamber. The bill has not become law.
The idea of reunification is rooted in the two countries’ shared language, history and culture. Much of present-day Moldova was part of Romania between the world wars, before being taken over by the Soviet Union in 1940 and later becoming the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic.
Government doubts
The bill was put forward by the parliamentary group of S.O.S. România, a far-right Romanian nationalist party. It says Romania’s parliament “decides on the unification of Romania with the Republic of Moldova” and authorizes the government to immediately start urgent talks with authorities in Chișinău, Moldova’s capital.
The draft also says that after adoption, international bodies and partners including Moldova’s government, the United States, NATO, the United Nations and the European Union should be notified.
Romania’s government had already issued a negative opinion on the bill. It said Romania’s priority was supporting Moldova’s path towards EU membership, and that parliament cannot mandate negotiations or the signing of treaties in the way proposed.
“The regulatory provisions contained in the legislative initiative, by their unilateral nature, are likely to infringe upon constitutional provisions and the norms of international law,” the opinion said.
Romania’s Senate voted down a similar bill in 2023.
Reunification idea
The idea of reunification has also been discussed by mainstream leaders in both countries. Romanian former Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan said earlier this year that he would vote in favor of unification if the issue were put to a referendum.
Moldovan President Maia Sandu also said she would support reunification in a referendum, while stressing that Moldova’s main goal remains joining the European Union.
However, support for reunification remains politically sensitive. Sandu has acknowledged that most Moldovans do not currently back the idea, and Romania’s government says its priority is supporting Moldova’s EU path rather than pursuing a unilateral union process.
