The Union of Bessarabia with Romania after 98 years

Tens of thousands of people called Sunday, in Chisinau, for the union of the Republic of Moldova with Romania.

Valentin Țigău, 28.03.2016, 14:41

On Sunday, Chisinau saw a unionist rally marking 98 years since the union of Bessarabia, a Romanian historical province annexed by the former USSR in 1940, with Romania. The union’s advocates launched a forum called “The Country Council 2” meant to promote the reunification of the Republic of Moldova also identified, by and large, as the former historical province of Bessarabia, with Romania by 2018, when Romanians and Moldavans will mark 100 years since the union of the Romanian historical provinces into a unitary state.

According to Radio Chisinau, the union of Moldova with Romania was asked by tens of thousands of people who took part in the largest-scale unionist rally ever held in Chisinau. The participants formed a huge three-color flag out of balloons, which they carried up to the city’s main station where there is a Monument devoted to the Romanians from Bessarabia who were deported by the Soviets to the labour camps in Siberia. The people chanted “Union”, “No borders at the Prut River” and “Bessarabia is Romania”.

Over 1,700 delegates from all cities and towns of the Republic of Moldova, representatives of the unionist Diaspora and guests from Romania have adopted, during a congress, the timetable for reunification by 2018 and the subsequent steps. Some of their objectives include the start of an investment program for the Republic of Moldova, the endorsement of the reunification principles by the Romanian and Moldovan Parliaments, respectively, the twinning of all localities in the Republic of Moldova with localities in Romania, setting up a single audio-visual space in Romania and the Republic of Moldova, and unifying the educational programs between the two countries.

Concurrently, the TASS Agency says that in Chishinau, less than 1,000 people participated in a separate meeting, protesting the union with Romania. Sunday’s march by the union’s supporters took place against the backdrop of prolonged political instability and massive rallies. Corruption, poverty, the lack of a clear-cut political direction, the ambiguity of geopolitical relations and the Transdniester conflict, which hasn’t been solved for over 26 years, keep the Republic of Moldova in the focus of attention of the European Union, which offered it in 2014, the chance of signing an Association Agreement. The Romanian Senator for the Diaspora, Viorel Badea, said on Radio Romania, on Sunday, that the situation is complicated.

Viorel Badea: “I see a Republic of Moldova which hasn’t found the right track to follow, which has lost the pace we’ve thought it found in recent times; people are uncertain and reluctant: the other day I was talking to a mayor who told me people no longer trust anything and anybody”.

Against this backdrop, it is not at all surprising that an increasing number of people see the union with Romania as the solution.