BUCHAREST – Romanian Member of the European Parliament Diana Șoșoacă delivered a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin during a visit to Moscow in 2025,calling for the return of territories she claims Ukraine “holds illegally.” The move underscores a growing pattern of pro-Russian rhetoric from the far-right politician and raises concerns about the spread of disinformation within the European Union.
Șoșoacă, elected to the Romanian senate in 2020 as part of the Alliance for the Union of Romania (AUR) before forming her own S.O.S. România movement in 2021,has consistently challenged both Ukraine’s territorial integrity and Romania’s alignment with Western allies. Her recent actions in Moscow represent a notable escalation of her previously expressed views, which include questioning Ukraine’s legitimacy as a state and denouncing Romania’s membership in the EU and NATO.
Since July 2024,Șoșoacă has served as a Member of the European Parliament,where,during her first address,she claimed aid to Ukraine was leading to the “destruction of Romania” and urged an end to weapon supplies to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. She has repeatedly demanded the “revision of borders” and the return of territories she considers “historically Romanian,” including Northern Bukovina, Herța, Budzhak, and Snake Island.
Șoșoacă rose to prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic by opposing quarantine restrictions and vaccination campaigns. She holds anti-immigration views and was fined for hate speech in late 2021. Notably, Russia’s state-run Sputnik news agency named her their ”politician of the year 2021 in Romania.”
In 2023, she submitted a bill to cancel the 1997 Good Neighborliness Treaty between Ukraine and Romania. ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) responded in 2025 by banning her from entering the country for three years.
Prior to her Moscow visit, Șoșoacă publicly praised her own “clarity of arguments” and “depth of Christian and nationalist message” following a speech, claiming it “ended with applause.” Negotiations are currently underway between Ukraine and the United States regarding the joint production and export of Ukrainian drones,alongside continued American weapons supplies to Ukraine’s armed forces.
