The Parliament of the Republic of Moldova has denounced the Agreement between the Government of Moldova and the Government of the Russian Federation on the establishment and functioning of cultural centers. The draft decision was approved in the second reading by 57 deputies, TRIBUNA reports.

The agreement was signed in Moscow in 1998 and entered into force in July 2001. Based on this document, the Russian Federation opened the Russian Cultural Center in Chișinău in 2009. Since the ratification of the agreement, Moldova has not established a cultural center in Russia, despite the reciprocity principle stipulated in the treaty.

The Russian Cultural Center operates under the direct administration of the Russian Embassy in Chișinău and is financed by the Russian agency Rossotrudnicestvo, which is subordinated directly to the Russian presidency. The agency has been subject to international sanctions and was described by the EU as “the main state body projecting the Kremlin’s soft power and hybrid influence, including the promotion of the so-called ‘Russkiy Mir’ concept.”

The denunciation project was drafted by the Ministry of Culture at the request of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, following a serious violation of Moldova’s airspace by Russian drones in February 2025.