10.09.2015, Kishinev.
Kishenev maidan is primarily organized by “DA” platform (DA standing for “Dignity and Truth”). “DA” are unionists, in this case – proponents of Romania absorbing Moldova. For the time being, protesters demand the President and the Cabinet to step down and new elections to be held. However, it won’t take long before calls for joining Romania will reappear. This Tuesday, the former Romanian president, Traian Basescu, evoked this idea of Romania absorbing Moldova.
Below is the quotation on the topic.
Bucharest, September 8. The former head Romanian government Traian Basescu said his country and Moldova might merge within 4 – 5 years.
“In terms of our prospect, we don’t necessarily mean decades. Four – five years. What matters here is that both sides of [the river] Pruth have political will for such an action,” Noi.md quoted the politician.
He said also that the Transnistria region cannot be part of this project since that is not even Romanian land.
We are talking about national interest free of any political meddling. Polls show that 70-80 % of people in Romania are up for the unification, which is all well known. I hope this will be done under Iohannis, however, for this to happen we need a direct official dialog with Kishenev, Besesku went on saying.
Earlier, Moldovan prime-minister Valery Strelets ruled out the possibility of Moldova merging with Romania. Such step would entail costs unacceptable for Romanians, he added.
As for the time frame, Iohannis leaves office in 2019. In a sense, Beseku is fixed with the idea of merging with Moldova. Somehow, however, the “world community” doesn’t mind.
On the one hand, a scenario is proposed: Moldova goes to Romania, making Transnistria independent de jure, which paves the way for it to legally become a part of the Russian Federation. However, there are several obstacles here. It’s not just a prospect of blockade potentially imposed by Romanians and Poroshenko – a major issue – since Transnistria is accessible only from the side of Moldova now.
We still face a far more fundamental challenge here. Bessarabia (a stretch of land between the rivers Dniester and Pruth) joined Romania during the Civil War. Transnistria was a part of Ukrainian SSR. In 1924, Moldavian SSR was formed within Ukrainian SSR, absorbing today’s Transnistria and parts of Odessa region. In 1940, when the Soviet Union returned Bessarabia, Moldavian SSR emerged including the most of Moldovan Autonomous SSR (MASSR). In 1992, nationalists who had just seized the power denounced all resolutions of USSR era as invalid. This allowed to claim that the transfer of Transnistria to Moldovan SSR of 1940 was also void, making it independent of Moldova. However, the residents of the city on the other side of Dniestr, Bendery, expressed the desire to join Transnistria as well, but this is a different story. If Romania absorbs Moldova, how likely will it be that Ukrainian Bandera Nazis will recall what I just had recalled? UNSO fought in Transnistria in 1992 saying “Tiraspol is Ukraine”.
Gagauzia is another sensitive issue. In the early 90s, Gagauzia declared independence, however, no war followed. In 1994, after a round of talks, the republic reunited with Moldova as an autonomous republic. In the meantime, a delayed independence status was included into the Constitution. It suggested that the Republic may leave Moldova in case it is absorbed by Romania.
In 2003, however, this status was removed from the Constitution (under the rule of the Communist party, interestingly enough). But, on February 02, 2014, a referendum was held in Gagauzia where its citizens (98% voting in favor with overall 57% turning out) voted against integration with the EU and in favor of integration with the Customs Union and reinstatement of the delayed status.
One thing is vital to point out. Gagauzia’s population is approximately 100 thousand people while Moldova is home to 3 million, which makes any resistance in Gagauzia an uphill battle. However, Gagauzia makes merger of Moldova and Romania a more challenging task. After all, an EU and NATO country is unlikely to add new territories riddled with inner uncertainties.
On Romania’s part the reunification is also not a done deal, such a step will cost a lot financially. When Russia with its 144 million people reunited with Crimea, where in Sevastopol alone lives an estimate of 2.5 million people, it was quite a strain on the budget. Romania, should it choose to follow this path faces a more demanding task.
Apparently, the idea to become a part of Romania is not so popular in Moldova. The mere fact that the Kishinev maidan has more Moldovan flags than Romanian ones and that no unionist or Anti-Russian calls are heard, suggests as much. In any case, they are not on the foreground. We should give credit to maidan ideologists, they know their math in target-countries and avoid agenda that might put protesters off. The fact that the idea of joining Romania has been downplayed so far is indicative of the fact that the population is not eager for this.
However, facts are facts. The topic of merger between Romania and Moldova is neither a taboo, nor punishable in these countries. And should such merger or devouring be arranged for in the nearest future, then Transnistria may find itself between a rock and a hard place.
Source: Evgeny Melamud
