Vlah became a lawyer in 1996, working at the tax inspectorate. In 2019, she was re-elected as Head of Gagauzia in a landslide, achieving the largest win in the region's modern history. Vlah was unable to seek election to a third term due to term limits and was replaced in 2023 by
Evghenia Guțul. In her announcement speech she criticized closer ties between Moldova and
NATO and increased defense spending and stated Moldova must be "neutral." She has also stated that it necessary to "maintain ties with the
CIS countries, for the benefit of our businesses and compatriots." Vlah claimed she was being harassed by the Moldovan police when she attempted to hold a campaign rally in
Naslavcea in a restricted portion of the
Moldova-Ukraine border without permission from Moldovan border guards. The police criticized her claims as "groundless, manipulating and of disparagement" and that the border-guard post she was attempting to campaign at was a clearly restricted area and that by publishing the uncensored face of the officer who turned her away was attempting to intimidate the police. After losing the election, Vlah set up the
Heart of Moldova Republican Party (PRIM). On 28 August 2025,
Canada announced it had introduced sanctions against Vlah, 15 other individuals and two entities in Moldova as they were deemed responsible for actions of
Russian interference before the
2025 Moldovan parliamentary election. Afterwards, Prime Minister
Dorin Recean announced on 5 September that Moldova's Interinstitutional Supervisory Council had decided to block funds and economic resources in Moldova belonging to Vlah, adding that "We will not tolerate national security being trampled on and turned into a plaything for Kremlin spokespeople". Thus, the State Fiscal Service (SFS) blocked five
bank accounts belonging to Vlah on 16 September. Also on 16 September,
Lithuania banned Vlah from entering the country for five years due to her ties to Russia and her support for Russian attempts at exerting influence over Moldovan politics as the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania stated. Later, on 25 September, she was banned from entering three countries:
Poland, for a period of five years, since, as the
Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, she was helping Russia interfere in the preparations for the Moldovan parliamentary election;
Latvia, for an indefinite period; and
Estonia, since her actions "violate the norms of international law and threaten peace and security" according to the
Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs Margus Tsahkna, with Vlah having been included in Estonia's list of sanctioned people. On 25 September, the Central Court of Appeal precautionarily limited the activity of the PRIM for the duration of the examination of its case until a verdict would be pronounced, and on 26 September, two days before the parliamentary election, the
Central Electoral Commission (CEC) excluded the PRIM from the election amid accussations of illegal financing of the party. Thus, the
Patriotic Electoral Bloc (BEP), which the PRIM had been a member of, was required to remove PRIM members from its list of candidates within 24 hours.
Igor Dodon, leader of the
Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova (PSRM) also part of the bloc, had already stated that, in such a scenario and in the case that the bloc managed to form a parliamentary majority after the election, Vlah would be included in the new government. ==Honours and accolades==