After World War II, Moldova was incorporated into the Soviet Union. Although the country has been independent from the USSR since 1991, Russian forces have remained on Moldovan territory east of the Dniester River supporting the Slavic majority population, mostly Ukrainians and Russians, who have proclaimed a "Transnistria" republic. One of the poorest nations in Europe, Moldova became the first former Soviet state to elect a Communist, Vladimir Voronin, as its president in 2001. Voronin served as Moldova's president until he resigned in September 2009, following the opposition's gain of a narrow majority in July parliamentary elections and the Communist Party's subsequent inability to attract the three-fifths of parliamentary votes required to elect a president. Moldova's four opposition parties formed a new coalition, the Alliance for European Integration, which acted as Moldova's governing coalition until December 2010. Moldova experienced significant political uncertainty in 2009 and 2010, holding three general elections and four presidential ballots in parliament. Following the November 2010 parliamentary elections, a coalition of three parties formed a government, but remained two votes short of the three-fifths majority required to elect a president.

Moldovan state-owned national radio-television operates two television and two radio stations. There are a total of nearly 40 terrestrial TV channels and approximately 50 radio stations. Russian and Romanian channels also are available. The dominant print publications in the Moldovan language are: Timpul, Flux, Moldova Suverana, and Jurnal de Chisinau. The most prominent Russian language publications are: Kommersant Moldoviy, Komsomolskaya Pravda, and Nezavisimaya Moldova.