An EU‑Moldova summit was held on June 22, 2026, in Brussels, and Moldova opened its first “cluster” of negotiations to join the European Union, according to france24.

Moldova, a country of nearly 3 million people that borders Ukraine, has been described as a battleground between pro‑EU and pro‑Kremlin forces; its President Maia Sandu said, “We hope the member states will recognise our effort” to join the EU, france24 reported.

The Kremlin is reported to be trying to influence the upcoming Moldovan parliamentary elections on September 28, 2025, and had previously attempted to influence Moldova’s presidential election and a referendum on EU integration in the fall of 2024, understandingwar.org said. The outlet added that preventing Moldova’s integration into the West is a long‑held strategic objective of Moscow and that Moscow is adapting previous influence tactics used against Ukraine, Georgia and Romania.

According to understandingwar.org, the pro‑Western Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) currently holds the majority in the Moldovan Parliament, while the Kremlin is supporting various electoral blocs in order to deprive PAS of its majority. The outlet noted that a Moldovan Parliament aligned with the Kremlin would be able to undo many of the efforts Chisinau has achieved.