Early signs that Romania and Moldova might unite after the latter achieved emancipation from Soviet rule quickly faded after the Transnistria War.

However, a growing unionist sentiment emerged especially in the second decade of the 21st century, even as successive Moldovan governments continuously oscillated between pro-Russian (and by default anti-Romanian)[3] and pro-Western positions.

Bessarabia, having declared its sovereignty in 1917 by the newly elected Council of the Country (Sfatul Țării), was faced with bolshevik agitation among the Russian troops and Ukrainian claims to parts of its territory.

Having no troops, he transmitted the request to the Romanians, whose military intervention was met with protest by the presidents of the Council of the Country and of the provisional government of Bessarabia and by the Soviet of Chișinău.

During World War II, Romania (in alliance with the Axis Powers) took back Bessarabia and was awarded further territorial gains at the expense of the Soviet Union (the Transnistria Governorate) as compensation for Northern Transylvania, lost to Hungary in 1940.

At one of his meetings in Bucharest, Bodiul said that "the good relationship was initiated by Ceaușescu's visit to Soviet Moldavia, which led to the expansion of contacts and exchanges in all fields.

[6] At the Romanian Communist Party's final conference in November 1989, Ceaușescu raised the issue of Bessarabia yet again, denouncing the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 1939 and implicitly calling for the region's restoration to Romania.

From the declaration of the Romanian Government made on that occasion it clearly resulted that, in the opinion of the authorities in Bucharest, Moldova's independence was considered as a form of emancipation from Moscow's tutelage and a step towards the reunification with Romania: Proclamarea unui stat românesc independent pe teritoriile anexate cu forța în urma înțelegerilor secrete stabilite prin Pactul Molotov–Ribbentrop reprezintă un pas decisiv spre înlăturarea pe cale pașnică a consecințelor nefaste ale acestuia, îndreptate împotriva drepturilor și intereselor poporului român.

Romania, however, sent a contingent of volunteers and military advisers to fight alongside Moldovan forces, as well as supplying Moldova with weapons and equipment.

[9] [The vote of the Parliament in Chișinău regrettably reconfirms the criminal pact and irresponsibly cancels the right of the Romanian nation to live within the integrity of its historical and spiritual space ...

Through the geographical position, culture, history and traditions, the natural place of our brothers from across the Prut is, undoubtedly, together with us, in the great family of the European nations and by no means in a Eurasian structure.

[16][17] The civil unrest in Moldova in April 2009 led to a diplomatic row between the countries, after President Voronin accused Romania of being the force behind the riots in Chișinău.

[18] The Romanian ambassador in Moldova, Filip Teodorescu was declared persona non grata by the Moldovan government, being required to leave the country within 24 hours.

[18] The following day, the Romanian parliament nominated a senior diplomat, Mihnea Constantinescu, as the new ambassador to Moldova,[19] but two weeks later the Moldovan government rejected him without explanation, deepening the crisis.

[18] It also condemned as "arbitrary and discriminatory" the new measures brought against Romanian nationals in Moldova and has stated that the visa scheme was "reckless" and broke a Moldova-EU pact.

Despite this deterioration, Dodon, during a meeting with President Klaus Iohannis in New York City, said that the development of Romanian relations was a "key priority" for his government.

[29][30] In May 2020, during a Facebook fight with Romanian MEP Siegfried Mureșan, Moldovan Prime Minister Ion Chicu declared Romania to be the most corrupt country in Europe.

On it, Iohannis promised that Romania would donate 200,000 vaccine units to Moldova as part of a collaboration program on matters of the COVID-19 pandemic and other topics between the two countries.

[34] Moldova formally applied to join the EU in March 2022, after growing concern over Russian expansionism (as seen in Ukraine), and was granted candidate status in June 2022.

[42] A movement for the unification of Moldova and Romania began in both countries after the Romanian Revolution and the glasnost policy in the Soviet Union, advocating the peaceful integration of the two states.

In the aftermath of the 2009 Chișinău riots, director of the Moscow Institute for National Strategy Stanislav Belkovsky reaffirmed his support for the movement, declaring he believes the civil unrest to be a prelude of a political union between the countries.

Belkovsky had already authored another plan for the unification between Romania and Moldova, notably excluding Transnistria, which would either become an independent republic or, if it is unviable on its own, unite with Ukraine.

[46] On 29 November 2013, Georgia and Moldova signed the association agreements with the European Union at a summit in Vilnius dedicated to the EU's Eastern Partnership countries.

[49] A press release of the pro-union organization Action 2012 claimed that a poll conducted in Moldova, excluding Transnistria and Gagauzia, before the annexation of Crimea by Russia in February 2014 and revealed that 52% of Moldovan citizens would want the union with Romania.

[51] Eugen Tomac, then deputy of the People's Movement Party (PMP) and main person behind this project, declared that "forgetting history is the same as betrayal".

In November that year, the Moldovan parliament passed a law which allowed dual citizenship; this applied to other countries besides Romania, particularly Russia and Ukraine.

On 27 April 2010, the Grand Chamber of the ECHR decided the ban was "disproportionate with the government’s purpose of ensuring loyalty" of its public servants and members of parliament.