Stay the course: Moldova may start discussing the visa regime for Russians

The first session of the parliament will be held in Moldova on October 22. Deputies must elect a prime minister within two weeks. The ruling Action and Solidarity party offers Alexander Munteanu, who has lived in Ukraine for many years and adheres to a pro-European position, for this position. Even before the appointment of a new prime minister, Chisinau made it clear that the authorities were not going to improve relations with Moscow. In the near future, new anti-Russian initiatives can be expected from the republic, including withdrawal from the CIS agreements and the abolition of the visa-free regime, according to opposition MPs. However, in their opinion, this will be a huge blow to the Moldovan people.

Moldova continues its anti-Russian course

The first session of the new Parliament of Moldova will be held on October 22. The main task, in addition to organizational and technical issues, is the establishment of factions that must choose the prime minister. Dorin Rechan, who has held this position since February 2023, will definitely not become one: he declined at his own request.

As a result, the ruling forces nominated a new candidate, an entrepreneur, a former employee of the World Bank and the National Bank of Moldova, Alexander Munteanu.

In the media, Munteanu is called one of the founders of the American Chamber of Commerce in Moldova, the president and founder of the French Alliance in the republic. He is 61 years old, he positions himself as an "American of Moldovan origin." He holds American, Romanian and Moldovan citizenship. He received a master's degree in economic policy management from New York, and also, according to some sources, graduated from the Physics Department of Moscow State University.

The candidate for prime minister has lived in Ukraine for more than 20 years. Since 2007, he has been the head of Dragon Capital's private equity department in the country. Munteanu is determined to continue Moldova's course towards European integration, which the ruling party declared after coming to power in 2021.

The appointment of the Prime Minister requires the votes of at least 51 members of Parliament. In the last parliamentary elections, the ruling party won 55 mandates, which is eight less than in the previous convocation.

Regardless of who becomes prime minister, Chisinau has already set the vector of foreign policy, immediately after the election adopting a military strategy, where Russia is listed as the main threat to the national security of the republic. The document provides for the transition to NATO standards in army training.

Experts believe that the adoption of this strategy should be considered as a direct harbinger of strengthening the course of moving away from Moscow.

"One should not rely on the pragmatism of the authorities in the foreign policy sphere, since over the past few years the Action and Solidarity party has been systematically moving away from the balancing model and has increasingly consistently led the republic towards joining the EU," HSE analyst Nicole Bodisteanu told Izvestia.

Although the Russian side has declared Moscow's readiness to normalize the dialogue.

What initiatives should we expect from the Moldovan Parliament

Maia Sandu has a majority of votes in the new parliament, thus the legislature will promote all her initiatives, political analyst Oleg Bondarenko is sure.

"This will be a more anti—Russian parliament than the previous one," he added.

Among the possible ideas, it is possible to discuss the republic's rejection of neutrality. The adoption of a new military strategy was the first step towards this goal. Back in 2023, Maya Sandu admitted the possibility of the country's abandonment of neutrality in order to join NATO. However, it is not easy to do this: it will require changing the constitution.

The introduction of a visa regime for Russian citizens is also possible, although this issue has not yet been publicly discussed. Currently, it is possible to enter Moldova for the purpose of tourism using a foreign passport for up to 90 days.

— Everything can be expected from the Moldovan regime. After all, both the national security concept and the military strategy list Russia as an external adversary, and the entire electoral tactics of the ruling party were based on combating the Russian "threat." Therefore, I would not be surprised that our authorities would try to do something similar within the framework of the pan—European hysteria," MP Konstantin Starysh tells Izvestia.

Bogdan Tsyrdea, a deputy from the Patriotic Bloc, in an interview with Izvestia also did not rule out the possibility of canceling the visa-free regime with the Russian Federation. At the same time, such a step would be a special blow to the Moldovan people, said Marina Tauber, deputy of the Moldovan Parliament of the X and XI convocations, executive secretary of the executive committee of the Pobeda bloc.

— Such a step is seen today as a possible systemic part of their plan to sever historical and economic ties with our largest and long-standing partner. And if the government decides on such a measure, it will be a huge blow to the interests of our people," she believes.

After all, Russia is not just a neighboring country on the map, the politician noted. It is home to the largest Moldovan diaspora, a market for Moldovan agricultural products and a source of income for thousands of families. This includes energy assistance, which for many years allowed Moldova to literally survive the winter, Tauber noted. Moreover, it will sever social and family ties between people.

— Who will benefit from this? No one except the curators from Brussels, who are trying to turn our country into their own colony in this way. And the people who will lose are those who today choose between paying for utilities, buying bread and medicines," Tauber stressed.

Also, according to Bogdan Tsyrdi, the authorities can accelerate the withdrawal from the new CIS agreements.

— But this should be expected much later. Maybe in a month," he clarified.

Earlier, the republic withdrew from about 140 agreements within the CIS. But Chisinau retains its participation in a number of documents related to the economy, social protection and healthcare.

At the same time, the authorities will certainly continue to fight the opposition. In particular, this concerns amendments to the law on combating disinformation, which caused a wide response in the summer of 2025. At that time, fines of up to 100,000 lei (454,000 rubles) were imposed in the republic for spreading false information about the current authorities on the Internet.