This article addresses the issue of the place and the role that Moldova still played during the reign of Alexandru Lăpuşneanu in the Central and Southeast European political arena. Applying the principles of a modern diplomacy, the lord of Moldova knew how to oscillate in quite complicated situations and to consolidate his throne. The balance of this first reign, also viewed through the prism of the Moldovan-Habsburg relations, demonstrates the fact that Alexandru Lăpuşneanu remains one of the important rulers in the history of Moldova, for whom political interest prevailed over ideologies that were in the past