Ever since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Moldova has been popping up in the news with increasing frequency. The Republic of Moldova is a small country on Ukraine's southwestern border, and in the spring of 2022, it seemed possible that Russia might also invade and occupy it. This would have opened up a second front for Ukraine and brought Russia right up to the southeastern border of both the EU and NATO. Since then, politicians in Germany and Europe have been paying more attention to Moldova than ever before. In a show of solidarity, the EU granted both Ukraine and Moldova candidate country status in June 2022. Several European countries, above all Germany, provide Moldova with military support. Moldova celebrates the 34th anniversary of its independence on August 27. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk will be there to mark the occasion in what is a historic gesture and show of support. Here's what you need to know about Moldova. When did Moldova become an independent state? Most of the territory that makes up the Republic of Moldova — the area between the Rivers Dniester and Prut — used to belong to what was known as the Principality of Moldavia. Russia annexed part of the principality (Bessarabia) in 1812 and it remained part of the Russian Empire until 1917. In late 1917, the Moldavian Democratic Republic declared its independence from Russia. A year later it entered a union with the Kingdom of Romania. After the Hitler-Stalin Pact, Stalin annexed the territory again in 1940 and turned it — together with parts of the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic east of the River Dniester — into a new Soviet Republic. This republic declared its independence from the Soviet Union on August 27, 1991, creating the Republic of Moldova we know today. Which ethnic groups live in Moldova? About three-quarters of the 2.9 million people who live in the Republic of Moldova (including Transnistria) are Moldovan.