Moldovan and Romanian citizens participate at a rally to mark the 100th anniversary of the unification of Moldova with Romania, in the Great National Assembly Square in Chisinau, Moldova, 25 March 2018 (EPA)

A survey released on Thursday by the Romanian Avangarde research group showed that 33% of respondents supported the notion of uniting with Moldova, while 54% of Romanians are opposed to it.

An April survey in Moldova revealed that over 60% of respondents were opposed to uniting Moldova and Romania.

Asked if Moldova should join NATO, Romanians were split, with 31% being in favor, 40% being against, and 29% would rather not say.

The institution also requested responses regarding the necessity of hastening Moldova's entrance to the European Union. According to the survey, 41% of respondents agreed with the notion, 30% disagreed, and 29% were unable to react.

A significant portion of what is now Moldova, formerly known as Bessarabia, is on the right bank of the Dniester River and was a crucial component of the Romanian principality of Moldavia until 1812, when its suzerain, the sultan of the Ottoman Empire, gave it to Russia.

Bessarabia was a province of the Russian Empire until the conclusion of World War I when it joined Greater Romania. In 1940–1941 and again after World War II, when it was combined with Transnistria, a region on the left bank of the Dniester River, Bessarabia was once again under Russian rule.

Upon the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Moldova declared its independence within its Soviet borders including Transnistria.

There has been a growing movement in support of Moldova's reunification with Romania since then, while Transnistria remains an unrecognized state intending to reunite with Russia.

This comes after Moldova's pro-Western President Maia Sandu said in March that she had signed a law replacing the reference of the country's official language from Moldovian to Romanian.

The change will come into force in all official documents, including the Constitution.

Additionally, former Moldovan President Igor Dodon said in June 2022 that the West was fostering destabilization in Moldova in order to justify its military and political unification with Romania.

"It is clear that [Moldovan President] Maia Sandu and her external masters follow the Ukrainian scenario, provoking a deliberate destabilization of the situation, and some political factors from the West want to use the Moldovans as cannon fodder in the geopolitical battle that is currently being waged in this region. The military and political merger of our country with the territory of Romania is being prepared, with the rejection of neutrality," Dodon wrote on Telegram.

According to the lawmaker, the arming procedures and anti-Russian hysteria are specially designed to legitimize the installation of NATO troops on Moldovan soil.