As an aside, Moldova is only independent as a sort of historical accident - from memory it's something to do with being designated a buffer region by former USSR's administrators, not entirely unlike East Germany. I believe many Moldovans more or less consider themselves to be Romanian, ethnically and culturally, and that's largely reciprocated by Romanians. So, from our perspective, the difference is largely cosmetic.
Yes; I arrived at a similar conclusion
I had a girlfriend who was from Iasi in Eastern Romania. She considered herself Moldovan, as do many from the region. I would say it's an identity thing, not dissimilar to our own regional nations identities in the UK.
Although in Romania, Iasi is / was the original western part of Moldova. Many from Moldova, consider themselves Romanian, in a way to distance themselves from the Communist Soviets and that political history.
Moldovans speak Romanian, there is a Moldovan / eastern Romanian regional accent that is distinct from other Romanian regions, just like we have in the UK. Even as a non speaker, I noticed the difference compared to other Romanian speakers.
