The government will denounce the agreement governing the operation of the Russian Cultural Center in Chisinau. The new cabinet of ministers, led by Prime Minister Alexandru Munteanu, plans to approve the decision at its first meeting.
In February 2025, Moldova announced its decision to terminate the agreement between Chisinau and Moscow regulating the activities of cultural centers. The announcement followed several incidents in which Russian drones loaded with explosives crashed in Moldova during attacks on Ukraine.
The Kremlin claimed that Chisinau could not restrict the operations of the Russian Centre for Culture and Science before 2026.
The draft denunciation reached members of Parliament’s Foreign Policy and European Integration Committee in May 2025. The committee was expected to send the minutes to the Ministry of Culture so that experts could finalize the initiative and forward it to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for parliamentary submission. However, the previous government’s mandate expired before it could complete the process.
Several public voices claim that the center’s activities serve as a cover for Russian intelligence operations in Moldova.
At the end of October, Mihai Popsoi announced that the new government would include the denunciation of the agreement on the agenda of one of its first meetings. He explained that the delay occurred because the 1998 agreement allows only for non-renewal, not unilateral termination, and officials needed to ensure compliance with all legal procedures.