By Alexander Tanas
CHISINAU, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Moldovan President Maia Sandu has said she would vote in favour of unification with neighbouring European Union and NATO member Romania if a referendum were to take place to help protect its fragile democracy against Russian pressure.
Sandu, whose pro-EU ruling party won a new mandate last September, has repeatedly accused Russia of meddling in Moldova, a former Soviet republic of around 2.4 million with a Romanian-speaking majority and a Russian-speaking minority.
"If we have a referendum, I would vote for the unification with Romania," she said in an interview for the British podcast 'The Rest is Politics', broadcast on Sunday.
"Look at what is happening in the world. It is getting more and more difficult for a small country like Moldova to survive as a democracy, as a sovereign country, and of course to resist Russia."
Around 1.5 million Moldovans hold Romanian citizenship, but recent polls have shown that only around one-third support reunification with Bucharest.
Sandu said she recognised most Moldovans do not support her position, adding that EU integration was a "more realistic objective".
Her government has set its sights on joining the EU by 2030 but will have to implement difficult reforms in the face of opposition from Russia. Moldova's pro-Russian Socialists were in power as recently as 2020.
Moldova, which also borders Ukraine, was part of Romania in the interwar period but was annexed by the Soviet Union during World War Two. It gained its independence in 1991 as the Soviet Union collapsed.
(Writing by Dan PeleschukEditing by Gareth Jones)
