Moldova to exit post-Soviet CIS bloc in 2027, foreign minister says

Moldovan Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mihai Popsoi said his country will officially cease to be a part of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a post-Soviet regional bloc formed after the collapse of the Soviet Union, as of April 8, 2027.

In remarks following a government meeting on Wednesday, Popsoi said that Chisinau has notified the CIS’ secretariat in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, of the country’s decision to leave the organization after withdrawing from its founding treaties earlier this month.

“We received confirmation of receipt of this notification. Thus, from a legal point of view, after 12 months, on April 8 next year, according to international law, we will no longer be part of the CIS,” Popsoi was quoted as saying by state news agency Moldpres.

Saying that Moldova has practically not been participating in the CIS for many years, Popsoi said that it will still remain part of several economic agreements connected with the organization.

"Here, Georgia's experience is telling. They denounced the fundamental agreements, as we did, but they remained part of the economic agreements, which is exactly what we do," Popsoi added.

Moldova suspended its participation in CIS meetings in 2022 and has abandoned several CIS-related agreements across various areas of cooperation since 2023.

In January, Popsoi declared that Moldova had begun the process of denouncing key CIS agreements, with the Moldovan parliament approving the country’s withdrawal from the organization’s founding treaties on April 2.

Moldovan President Maia Sandu promulgated the law on Chisinau’s withdrawal from the CIS on April 6.

The CIS was established in 1991 following the dissolution of the Soviet Union to promote cooperation in economic, political and security affairs.

Its full members are Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, while Turkmenistan holds associate membership.