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Gas cut-off and open borders on 1 January
Summary
Two developments on the first day of 2025 affected Moldova, Transnistria, Bulgaria and Romania in very different ways.
What did the new year bring to Ukraine's south-western neighbours? As of 2 January 2025, the answer was a gas cut-off for one and open borders for two others, both announced for 1 January.
Russia's Gazprom halted gas supplies to Moldova and to the self-proclaimed Transnistrian Republic on 1 January, as it had announced beforehand. The company alleged that payment obligations had not been met.
On the same day, Bulgaria and Romania finalised their accession to the Schengen Area and lifted their land border controls.
The two events, reported on the same date, pointed in opposite directions for the region: one neighbour of Ukraine faced the loss of Russian gas deliveries, while two others removed checks at their land frontiers.
