Moldova launches process to withdraw from CIS after government decision

At a government meeting, officials approved the denunciation of the agreement establishing the CIS, its accompanying protocol, and the organization’s charter.

The decision will now be submitted to Moldova’s parliament for approval.

Officials said the move was prompted by Russia’s violation of the CIS’s core principles, including commitments to respect territorial integrity and the inviolability of borders. The government also pointed to Moldova’s strategic course toward European integration and membership in the European Union.

“The denunciation of the CIS founding agreements does not mean or require Moldova’s withdrawal from other agreements concluded within the CIS framework that bring concrete benefits to our citizens and the national economy,” the government said in a statement.

Authorities also noted that the decision will not affect Moldovan citizens’ ability to travel freely within CIS countries. Ending Moldova’s status as a CIS member state is expected to save the national budget about 3 million lei annually.

Moldovan Foreign Minister Mihai Popșoi previously said the country must settle outstanding dues of about €100,000 before completing its withdrawal.

The CIS was created in 1991 after the leaders of several Soviet republics signed the Belavezha Accords, formally declaring the dissolution of the Soviet Union and establishing the organization in its place.

The Soviet Union itself had been founded in 1922 by the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russia), the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (Ukraine), the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (Belarus), and the Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, which included Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia.

Ukraine ended its participation in the CIS’s statutory bodies in 2018 but was never formally a member of the organization because it did not ratify the CIS charter.

Moldova began the process of denouncing the CIS’s foundational agreements and preparing to leave the organization in January 2026.