Movement for unification of Romania and Moldova
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Map of a unified Romanian-Moldovan state as advocated by the Unionist Movement. |
A
movement for the unification of Romania and Moldova began in both countries in early
1990s, after Moldova declared its independence from the
Soviet Union.
Following the Soviet Union's occupation of the former Romanian region of
Bessarabia during
World War II, the Soviets began a campaign to create a Moldovan ethnic identity different from that of the
Romanians, whom they described as "capitalist oppressors".
[Mackinlay, pg. 135]Soviet official policy also stated that
Romanian and
Moldovan were two different languages and, to emphasize the distinction, Moldovan was written using a special Cyrillic alphabet (the
Moldovan alphabet) derived from the
Russian alphabet – unlike Romanian, written with its own version of the Latin alphabet.
[Mackinlay, pg. 140]In September 1989, with the liberalization in the Soviet Union, the Moldavian SSR Parliament declared Moldovan to be the official language and asserted the real existence of a "linguistic Moldo-Romanian identity".
[Legea cu privire la funcţionarea limbilor vorbite pe teritoriul RSS Moldoveneşti Nr. 3465-XI din 01.09.89, published in Veştile nr.9/217, 1989 (Law regarding the usage of languages spoken on the territory of the Republic of Moldova)]On
6 May 1990, Romania and the Moldavian SSR lifted restrictions on travel between the two territories, and hundreds of thousands of people crossed the
Prut River which marked their common border.
[România Liberă. "Podul de flori peste Prut. Punţi de simţire românească", 8 May 1990.]In his address to the Romanian parliament, in February 1991,
Mircea Snegur, the Moldovan president, spoke of a common identity of Moldovans and Romanians, referring to the "Romanians of both sides of the
Prut River" and "Sacred Romanian lands occupied by the Soviets".
In 1989, Romanian became the official language of Moldova and following independence in 1991 the Romanian tricolor, with a Moldovan coat-of-arms, was adopted as the national flag. In addition,
Deşteaptă-te române!, the Romanian national anthem, also became that of Moldova. At the time, it was widely expected in both countries that they would soon be united.
[Mackinlay, pg. 139]However, this initial enthusiasm in
Moldova was tempered and from 1993 Moldova started distancing itself from
Romania. The constitution adopted in 1994 used the term "Moldovan language" instead of "Romanian" and changed the national anthem to
Limba noastră. The 1996 attempt by Moldovan president Mircea Snegur to change the official language to "Romanian" was dismissed by the Moldovan Parliament as "promoting Romanian expansionism".
Until recently, a union between Romania and Moldova was deemed unlikely, owing to a lack of interest in both countries. In Romania, while most political parties give mild support to the concept, at least in theory, unification would most probably be a burden on the Romanian economy, considering that Moldova is currently the poorest country in Europe. Additionally, Romania is expected to join the European Union in 2007, and while the country has recently supported Moldova in its foreign policy, many political analysts question Moldova's political preparedness and whether it has made sufficient progress for unification.
In Moldova, apart from the newly created
Unionist Movement of the Republic of Moldova, only the
Christian-Democratic People's Party actively supports unification.
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Map of a proposed unified Romanian-Moldovan state: the so-called "Belkovski proposal" (a Romanian-Moldovan political union excluding Transnistria). |
Nevertheless, discussions concerning the unification are on the increase as can be seen in different newspapers and forums from both countries.
In
2004, the Romanian newspaper
Ziua published a series of articles claiming that a senior Russian diplomat proposed to the Romanian government a plan that he claimed
"came from president Putin himself", which would leave the west bank of Moldova in Romania in exchange for a Romanian recognition of
Transnistrian independence. Russian president Putin has never confirmed nor denied the statements of the Romanian newspaper. Nevertheless, Romanian journalists and scholars immediately dismissed the plan since it would not address the question of the city of
Tighina which is under
Transnistrian control yet in
Moldova proper, nor would this address the question of how Russia would manage to convince Moldova, a sovereign and independent state, to join a political union with Romania.
In January 2006, the Romanian president,
Traian Băsescu declared that he strongly supports the Moldovan bid for joining the
European Union and that "Romania's
minimal policy is that the unification of the Romanian nation would be done within the EU". Interpretations of the word
"minimal policy" have led some to believe that the current Romanian administration also has a
maximal policy to formally unite the two countries.
According to a March 2006 poll in Romania, 51% of Romanians support a union with Moldova, 27% are against, and another 10% declined to answer[
1]. Also, of those supporting the union, 28% support a union with Moldova, including
Transnistria, while the rest support a union without Transnistria.
[Cotidianul. "Unirea cu Moldova", 23 January 2006]In July 2006, the Romanian president, Traian Băsescu, said that he had made a proposal of union to the Moldovan president,
Vladimir Voronin, enabling Romania and Moldova to join the EU together. The offer, however, had been refused and Băsescu said that he would respect this decision and that Romania would help Moldova find its own way to integrate with the EU.
[Evenimentul Zilei. "Băsescu şi-a dezvăluit planul unionist secret" 3 July 2006]The economic consequences of unification are not insignificant. Arithmetically, the possible results of unification are:
| Country | Population[July 2005 est. [https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/ CIA Factbook]] | Area | Density | GDP[Based on purchasing power parity, 2005 est. [https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/ CIA Factbook]] | GDP/capita | | Romania | 21,698,181 | 237,500 km² | 94 | $186.7 B | $8,400 |
| Moldova | 3,938,832 | 33,843 km² | 132 | $9.4 B | $2,100 |
| Romania/Moldova Union | 25,637,013 | 271,343 km² | 99 | $196.1 B | $7,321 |
# Grenoble, Lenore A (2003) Language Policy in the Soviet Union, Springer, ISBN 1402012985# John Mackinlay, Peter Cross (2003) Regional Peacekeepers. United Nations University Press ISBN 9280810790
*
Hotnews.ro: March 2006 Poll*
BBC Romanian: "Interviu cu preşedintele PPCD Iurie Roşca" (March 2005)
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Ziua: "Trădarea Basarabiei de la Bucureşti" (June 2005)
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Tiraspol Times: "Chisinau organizations support merger with Romania; calling Moldova "failed state" (July 2006)
