Authors

Discussion

This paper examines Romania’s kin-state politics in Ukraine focusing on the Moldovan minority. After becoming an EU member-state in 2007, Romania has attempted to strengthen its kin-state role in the region. Its kin-state politics, previously dominated by a focus on border revisionism and targeting Moldova and Ukraine, has gradually shifted in the last decade towards claiming kin ethnic groups predominantly in the Western Balkans (e.g., the Vlachs in Serbia and Aromanians in North Macedonia), but also in Ukraine. Along with the Romanian minority, the Moldovan one in Ukraine is claimed to be Romanian kinfolk. However, their ties with Romania have always been disputed within the community itself, as well as in inter-state relations. I explore here the nature of Romania’s kin-state politics in Ukraine, the justifications behind the changes in the last decade and their impact on the accommodation of the Moldovan minority prior to the start of the war in February 2022.