Moldova will consider reunification with neighbouring Romania if its path to EU membership is obstructed or blocked, Eugen Osmochescu, the country’s deputy prime minister told Euractiv in an interview.

Osmochescu, who took office in November last year, described unification with Romania as a possible option if Moldova’s EU accession process were to stall after 2028.

“That’s Plan B,” he said.

His remarks come as Chişinău pushes for the opening of its first membership negotiating ‘cluster’, implementing alignment with EU law and seeks to maintain momentum amid mounting Russian pressure.

Osmochescu however insisted Moldova’s objective remains signing an EU accession treaty by the end of 2028. Only if that process were to stall would political leaders seriously consider alternatives.

Asked whether Moldova risked being held back by its accession bid being tied to Ukraine’s, Osmochescu stressed that enlargement should remain merit-based but said Chişinău urgently needed tangible progress from Brussels.

“We need [to send] a signal to the population,” he said, pointing to continued Russian hybrid operations aimed at undermining support for EU integration.

Last March, a Russian strike on Ukraine’s Dniester hydroelectric plant in March caused an oil spill that polluted the Dniester River, a key water source for Moldova and southwestern Ukraine.

Osmochescu acknowledged his country lacks Ukraine’s capacity to withstand prolonged military pressure. “We are not as resilient as Ukrainians,” he said. “We don’t have a military industry. We don’t have military production. We don’t have an army comparable with the Ukrainian one.”

Euractiv last week reported that the European Commission expected the first fundamentals ‘cluster’ of negotiating chapters on Ukraine and Moldova’s EU membership to be open on 16 June.

“If it happens in June, that we open the negotiations, then that would be a clear signal,” he said. “That’s what we’re aiming for”.

The deputy prime minister also backed discussions around gradual integration or forms of associate membership, such as recently pitched by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

Under Merz’s proposal, an “associate member” status would give a candidate country the right to participate in councils of EU leaders and ministers without the right to vote.

Osmochescu said that any intermediate step bringing Moldova closer to the bloc would help anchor reforms and reassure voters.

When asked whether this would leave countries in a state of limbo, as critics argue, Osmochescu said it should instead be seen as an opportunity to “work harder” for the candidate country. “We have homework to do, it has to be done,” he said.

The minister openly endorsed the possibility of eventual unification with Romania if Moldova’s EU ambitions were frustrated.

Asked on whether such a move would fundamentally reshape Moldova’s identity, Osmochescu argued that most Moldovans already hold close cultural and family ties with Romania, while many possess Romanian citizenship.

Support for reunification stands at around 40% in Moldova – where roughly 850,000 of the country’s 2.4 million inhabitants hold Romanian passports – compared to about 70% in Romania.

“There is a cost,” he acknowledged. “It will have to be absorbed by Romania and by the EU. But the cost wouldn’t be as huge as the one in terms of the former [East and West] Germanies when they unified.”

“To consider,” he said when asked whether 2028 could become a moment for reassessment. “That’s exactly what the president said as well.”

(bw, cs)