7 April 2009: The Stolen Pro-European Revolution

Why the Republic of Moldova Can No Longer Afford to Miss the 2028 Deadline

Editorial by Daniel Vodă for the Civic Movement „European Initiative”

On 7 April 2009, in the Republic of Moldova, one could see perhaps for the first time so clearly the rupture between society’s democratic instinct and the reflexes of a system that had failed to understand that history had already moved in a different direction.

For many citizens, especially young people, that moment was one of political and moral awakening. It marked the emergence of a generation that no longer accepted fear, lies, or geopolitical captivity. In essence, it was a pro-European revolution, captured in a slogan well known across Europe: “Refuse! Resist! I am anti-communist.”

But it was also a stolen revolution. Not because the European idea disappeared - on the contrary, it endured and grew stronger. It was “stolen” because the energy of that moment was not translated quickly enough into a strategic reconstruction of the state.

We experienced alternations of power, grand speeches, and historic promises, but delayed the difficult decisions for too long: cleansing institutions, breaking away from toxic dependencies, exiting geopolitical ambiguity, addressing the banking fraud, and dismantling a captured state.

This is why, following last year’s decisive parliamentary elections, the year 2028 is no longer seen merely as a technical milestone in the EU negotiation calendar. It is a test of maturity and social cohesion.

The President of Finland, Alexander Stubb, put it simply and clearly: foreign policy rests on three pillars: values, interests, and power. For the Republic of Moldova, this formula says a great deal.

We clearly have values and interests. Our values are freedom, democracy, the rule of law, and human dignity. Our interests are peace, security, development, and accession to a space of prosperity governed by rules.

Power, in the hard sense of the word, is usually the privilege of larger actors. But this is precisely where the intelligence of a small state begins: the ability to turn cooperation into influence and diplomacy into relevance.

In this context, the recent vote by 60 Members of Parliament to withdraw from the core agreements of the CIS is a delayed but necessary strategic correction.

It is evident that we are not losing jobs by leaving the CIS. Moldova’s economy is already integrated with the European Union. Trade data shows that the EU is by far Moldova’s main trading partner: in 2025, around 67% of Moldovan exports went to the EU market, compared to just 4.5% to the CIS, of which only 1.5% went to Russia.

We are not losing markets. A healthy economy exports where there are rules, predictability, and respect for contracts. The wine and fruit embargoes, energy blackmail, and the use of trade as a political weapon have demonstrated the opposite.

Membership in the CIS has not protected us from Russian pressure, from ongoing cognitive warfare, from the instrumentalisation of Transnistria or Gagauzia against Chișinău, from attempts to polarize society along linguistic, identity, or religious lines, or from persistent attacks on our security.

Cooperation with Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and others can continue bilaterally, pragmatically, based on mutual interest.

Georgia left the CIS in 2009 after the 2008 Russian invasion. Ukraine has drastically reduced its participation and has repeatedly withdrawn from agreements following Russia’s aggression, which began in 2014 and escalated with the full-scale invasion.

Why now? Because the economic, institutional, and political future of the Republic of Moldova lies where investments, development funds, credible standards, and reliable markets are—and that is in the European Union.

The EU Growth Plan for Moldova, worth up to €1.9 billion for 2025–2027, is concrete proof that Europe is investing in our transformation. In March 2026, Chișinău received a second tranche following the implementation of a new package of reforms.

This is the key point: the European Union offers the opportunity, but it is Moldova’s mission to turn it into reality.

The EU is more than economic benefits. It is a community of values - freedom, democracy, the rule of law.

This is why the 2028 deadline must be respected. Beyond political slogans, it represents a historic window of opportunity. Analyses by the European Initiative clearly indicate that 2028 is seen as the target year for signing the accession treaty, allowing ratification to follow within a realistic timeframe up to 2030.

Public support confirms this trajectory: a recent ATES poll shows that 62.1% of respondents in Moldova would vote for EU accession, rising to 84.3% among the diaspora.

The window of EU accession also points towards Romania. A recent statement from Bucharest by Romania’s President, Nicușor Dan, that Romania will continue to support Moldova’s EU integration and “the integration of our two economies” signals a shift in paradigm—from political support to real economic integration.

This means infrastructure interconnection, cross-border investments, energy cooperation, logistics, companies, joint projects, and tangible improvements in everyday life. Moldova thus becomes not just a subject of solidarity for Romania, but a strategic constant on both the public and private agenda.

Recent crises confirm this direction. Russia is well aware of Moldova’s vulnerabilities and exploits them, including through attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure that indirectly target our country.

Following strikes at the end of March, authorities in Chișinău warned of serious risks to energy stability, with Energocom managing a deficit of around a quarter of daily consumption.

This situation was overcome thanks to partners from Ukraine, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, and Poland - four of which are EU Member States.

The direction is clear: interconnection with Romania, coordination with Ukraine, access to the European market, diversification, local sources, and renewable energy development.

Renewable energy usage in Moldova has experienced rapid growth, with installed capacity increasing 12-fold over the last five years, with an impressive 1 gigawatt registered in April. This is the path towards genuine energy security and beating already in 2025 Moldova’s own target of 25% renewable usage ahead of the 2027 deadline.

On the Nistru River, the lesson is equally clear. Contamination following Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure triggered an environmental alert across the basin.

Parliament explicitly condemned Russia, the Government activated emergency mechanisms including European ones available to candidate countries and institutions continue to document damages.

Here, Moldova’s diplomacy has a major mission: to transform an ecological crisis into a solid case of international accountability for transboundary damage.

In other words, diplomacy means linking our crises to European and international mechanisms of support, explaining why Moldova’s security is part of Europe’s security, and turning vulnerability into legitimacy and cooperation into results.

For a small country, smart diplomacy is one of the few forms of power available.

This is why 7 April 2009 must be read today not only as memory, but as a warning. A generation took to the streets then for a different future.

It would be unjust - and strategically irresponsible - to miss this moment again. Leaving the CIS alone will not solve everything. Nor can EU support replace our own internal effort.

But together, these developments show that Moldova has finally begun to align its compass in the right direction.

The slogan of the 7 April generation can now be updated:
“Refuse! Resist! I am a convinced pro-European.”

2028 is our obligation to those who believed in freedom on 7 April, to those who want security, jobs, clean water, stable energy, and institutions that respect them.

It is a national effort in which everyone must be called upon to contribute - so that, this time, we succeed together.

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Daniel Vodă is an Associated Expert in Foreign Policy and Strategic Communication at the Institute for European Policies and Reforms (IPRE). Between 2020 and 2025, he served as Spokesperson for the Government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration.