Perhaps even more than other countries in the post-communist world, Moldova is beset by difficulties caused by the definition of both nation and state. Like Belarus and Ukraine, Moldova is apparently uncertain about whether it would rather be a sovereign state or part of a revamped Soviet Union (the largest party in parliament, the communists, favors closer relations with the CIS). But many people in post-communist Moldova believe that a greater Romania might be their “natural” home.

While there was a kingdom of Moldova in the Middle Ages, its boundaries do not coincide with present-day Moldova; the former was much larger, and included much of today's Romania. The region has a complex history of shifting boundaries and divisions, most of it spent under Turkish or Russian rule. In the interwar period, much of Moldova was part of Romania. The Soviet Union established a separate Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (ASSR) of Moldova in 1924 (formally under Ukraine) on the left bank of the River Dniestr, in an area that first came under Russian control in 1792. The Romanian part was annexed and linked to the existing ASSR to form a constituent republic of the Soviet Union in 1940, in the aftermath of the Molotov–Ribbentrop pact. This situation was consolidated in 1944. Moldova (or Moldavia as it was known at that time) became thoroughly integrated into the Soviet Union, even though – along with the three Baltic states – it was a relative newcomer.