Bilateral cooperation with the Republic of Moldova was established in 1992.

From Moldova’s perspective, Germany is one of the most important partners in the EU, particularly when it comes to shaping political and economic reform processes and issues relating to closer EU ties. Germany thus supports the goal of long‑term stabilisation and development in Moldova through sustainable reforms aimed at bolstering democracy and the rule of law. It also supports the Republic of Moldova in resolving the Transnistria conflict.

Germany is assisting Moldova on its path towards the European Union. Moldova applied for EU membership on 3 March 2022 and was granted EU candidate status on 24 June 2022. On 14 December 2023, the European Council decided to open accession negotiations with Moldova, which were officially launched on 25 June 2024. The European Commission is currently conducting a screening process to assess the state of alignment of Moldovan national law with the EU acquis. Following the successful referendum in October 2024, Moldova enshrined EU accession as a strategic goal in its constitution.

Germany is one of the Republic of Moldova’s key trading partners. German companies have made major direct investments in the country, for example in the automotive supply industry. The Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA) and the additional liberalisation measures adopted by the European Union to soften the blow of Russian trade restrictions are having a positive impact on the Moldovan economy, even though there were slumps in 2020 on account of the pandemic and in 2022 due to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. Moldova’s macroeconomic situation has stabilised in recent times, although the energy crisis has been acute since the end of the transit agreement for Russian gas on 1 January 2025. The European Commission approved a comprehensive aid package to mitigate the impact on the energy situation throughout Moldova. Germany has also provided bilateral assistance to alleviate the acute crisis in Moldova.

In order to strengthen the Republic of Moldova’s resilience in light of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock initiated the Moldova Support Platform together with her French and Romanian counterparts in April 2022. In 2022, significant support for the Republic of Moldova was generated at three high-level conferences in Berlin, Bucharest and Paris, each of which were attended by over 40 participating country delegations. The fourth conference took place in Chisinau on 17 October 2023 and focused on continued support for Moldova and the future design of the platform. The fifth conference, held at ministerial level in Chisinau in 2024, focused on a secure energy supply for the country, cyber defence and Moldova’s reform plans.

The German Government has significantly expanded its support for Moldova since 2022. Since the start of the war, around 230 million euro (as of February 2025) have been provided to support crisis response and economic and social stabilisation projects, as well as reform and development initiatives in Moldova. With its support, Germany is helping to improve living conditions for people in rural areas, including through sustainable economic development, stronger public administration and decentralisation. What is more, Moldova is a target country in the programme entitled Expanding Cooperation with Civil Society. The focus here is on strengthening the efforts to move closer to the EU, in addition to resilience against disinformation and support for marginalised groups and those affected by the war.

In view of the impacts of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development has launched a programme to strengthen Moldova’s resilience. Germany is also supporting Moldova in the security and defence sector and in the areas of border surveillance and border control.