News about Territorial reform

According to government data, 790 municipalities have already announced their participation in the voluntary consolidation process.

Local and central public authorities in the Republic of Moldova will be able to participate in European Groupings of Territorial Cooperation (EGTCs)—legal entities designed to facilitate the implementation of cross-border projects and the attraction of external funding.

The government will allocate 145 million lei for the development of the settlements from the Calarasi district. This was announced by Alexei Buzu, the government’s general secretary in charge of the implementation of the administrative-territorial reform.

Why do the same news about Moldova’s future evoke such different reactions?

The real decentralization of local authorities should imply a real transfer of financial resources to local public administration bodies. This is the opinion of the Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Vlad Batrynca.

The Congress of Local Authorities of Moldova (CALM) asked representatives of the European Committee of the Regions to mediate the organization’s dialogue with the government. Its members pointed out alarming signs of deterioration in the situation of local democracy.

European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos will visit Moldova on June 4-6. During her visit, she will participate in two major events and will discuss with the authorities and society the country’s progress in the European integration process.

One of the main illusions of the administrative reform is that local self-government can be created legally. It is enough to transfer powers to the territory, elect a local council, approve the budget, appoint the staff, write a strategy, hold public hearings – and the territory supposedly becomes a subject of development.

Moldova’s culture and cultural heritage sector faces deep structural problems caused by deteriorated infrastructure and chronic underfunding, which significantly limits citizens’ access to quality cultural services. To overcome these problems, investments of over 1.85 billion lei are required.

Moldovan President Maia Sandu once again convinces citizens of the need to reform local public administration. She denies the risk of disappearance of identity and traditions of villages because of its results.

The Central Electoral Commission (CEC) presented the results of the second round of local elections in the three localities that elected mayors on Sunday, May 31, 2026. They will govern for the remaining one and a half years until the next local elections.

The local self-government reform is necessary, but its success depends on financial instruments, said Edinet mayor Constantin Cojocaru.

One of the main mistakes of Moldovan territorial development policy is that territory is too often seen as an administrative unit rather than a historically established economic system. The authorities look at a map and see districts, mayoralties, settlements, budgets, roads, schools, hospitals, population. But this map almost always hides another, much more important map – the map of lost functions.

When they talk about local elections in Moldova, they almost always discuss people. Who will win, who will lose, which party will be strengthened, who is behind whom, who has made a deal with whom, and how this will affect the big political game. Then the elections pass, the passions gradually subside, the elected mayors return to their daily work – and it turns out that the main issue has been left aside again.

Romanian Prime Minister Ilie Bolhogan congratulated the Moldovan authorities for the “determination” shown in the implementation of the administrative reform on voluntary unification of settlements. He emphasized that this model, based on reducing costs and increasing the efficiency of institutions, is an urgent need for Romania as well.

Moldovan President Maia Sandu compared the reform of the local public administration to a long-standing popular tradition of mutual assistance – “claca”. The head of state said that historically, in our villages, big things were done together, through mutual assistance, and this reform is, in fact, a “claka” between villages.

Almost a quarter of Moldova’s population is made up of young people between the ages of 14 and 34, but this segment has shrunk by an alarming 4.2% in just the last four years. Against the background of demographic decline, the authorities have noted another phenomenon – the “electoral apathy” of the new generation.

Administrative reform and its necessity have been discussed in Moldova for many decades. The problem of empty villages, incapable of development and dependent on central budget transfers, did not arise yesterday.

The education sector has become the scene of a fierce political confrontation between local and central authorities. Chisinau Mayor General Ion Ceban accuses the leadership of the country’s intention to deprive the capital of 330 million lei in just one year. In response, Education Minister Dan Perciun says the reform is vital to the system and reproaches the Chisinau mayor’s office for leaving more than a billion lei unspent over the past six years. The conflict continued in parliament.

Details of the reform of the education system have emerged. It involves the transfer of education departments and, consequently, schools from local authorities to the direct subordination of the Ministry of Education and Research. In this context, the government proposes to reduce the share of personal income tax that remains in the budgets of Chisinau and Balti municipalities from 50% to 45% of the amount collected.