Movement For The Unification of Romania and Moldova - Political Commentary

Political Commentary

In 2004 and later, the Romanian newspaper Ziua published a series of articles and interviews with Stanislav Belkovsky, an influential political commentator from the Russian Federation, who proposed a plan of a unification between Romanian and Moldova excluding Transnistria. Speculations followed whether his plan is backed by higher circles in the Kremlin, but they were never confirmed. Nevertheless, several journalists and scholars dismissed the plan as a diversion, also pointing out several ambiguities, such as the status of the city of Tighina situated on the right bank of Dniester but under Transnistrian control, and, more importantly, the unlikelihood of Moldova's acquiescence to such a plan.

In January 2006, the Romanian president Traian Băsescu declared that he strongly supported the Moldovan bid for joining the European Union and that "the minimal policy of Romania is for the unification of the Romanian nation to take place within the EU". The phrase "minimal policy" led to questions whether there is also a maximal policy.

In July 2006, the Romanian president Traian Băsescu, claimed to have made a proposal to the Moldovan president Vladimir Voronin that "Moldova join the EU together with Romania in 2007" and that the alleged offer was rejected. Băsescu also added that Romania would respect this decision and would help Moldova to join EU on its own.

In October 2006 the Romanian newspaper Cotidianul estimated the cost of a union with Moldova at 30-35 billion euro, and attracted criticism from the Romanian newspaper Ziua, as well as "Timpul" for exaggerating the costs and disregarding other dimensions of a possible union.

After Moldovan parliamentary election of April 2009, the 2009 Moldova civil unrest, the Moldovan parliamentary election of July 2009, and the creation of the governing Alliance for European Integration, a new wave of speculations about the union followed. The Party of Communists, now in opposition, claimed that "the unionists came to power".

In November 2009, political commentator Stanislav Belkovsky declared in an interview with Radio Free Europe that April 2009 marks the beginning of the process of Moldova's return to Romania.

Traian Băsescu made a state visit to Moldova along with a number of ministers to announce several projects that would intensify ties between the two countries, and the offer of 100 million euro grant for infrastructure projects. Băsescu called Moldova his "soul project". Private Romanian investments are also expected to increase significantly, with the opening of a Moldovan-Romanian business and investment office, and the takeover of the online news portal Unimedia by Romanian group Realitatea-Cațavencu group, owned by businessman Sorin Ovidiu Vântu.

On February 15, 2010, the Rădăuți-Lipcani border crossing between Romania and Moldova opened and the remnant Soviet barbed wire fence on the Moldovan side of the border with Romania was dismantled.

In January 2010, Mircea Druc, the former prime minister of Moldova between 1990 and 1991, declared that the unification of Romania and the Republic of Moldova is inevitable. However, acting President Mihai Ghimpu denied in an interview with the Russian language newspaper "Komsomolskaya Pravda v Moldove" that such a move will be taken, stating that a union is not included in the program of the governing coalition. On another occasion he declared that if the people wanted unification, neither he, nor anyone else could stop them. He admitted on several occasions to personally share unionist views. However in August 2010 he declared that the proposition of an "inter-state union" between Romania and Moldova was "a very stupid" idea.