In 2018, over a hundred localities in Moldova and dozens in Romania issued symbolic declarations of unification (, : ) with the other country. Such declarations were also issued by some Moldovan districts and Romanian counties (which are respectively each country's first-level administrative divisions), members of the Moldovan and Romanian diasporas and other entities.
A movement for the unification of Moldova and Romania exists in both countries. Both share a common Romanian language, a predominant Eastern Orthodox faith and strong cultural and historical connections. Supporters of the movement look back on the union of Bessarabia with Romania on 27 March 1918, Bessarabia being a region corresponding up to a point with modern Moldova. As the regions of Bukovina and Transylvania also united with Romania in 1918, with the three unifications being collectively known as the Great Union () among Romanians, 2018 was a symbolic year for unionists and nationalists, celebrated as the centenary of the Great Union.
The Moldovan commune of Parcova was the first to declare unification with Romania on 23 January. It was followed by over a hundred localities in Moldova, including the towns of Cimișlia, Edineț and Ungheni, but also several districts the first of which was Strășeni District. As a response, the Romanian commune of Parva declared unification with Moldova on 19 February, being followed by dozens of localities including major cities like Iași, Constanța, Brașov, Craiova and the capital Bucharest, as well as several counties the first of which was Prahova County. Members of the Moldovan and Romanian diasporas issued unification declarations in Belgium, Canada, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and the United Kingdom, and even in the European Parliament, and so did Moldovan and Romanian students and teachers, primary schools and high schools, universities, monasteries and parishes, unionist associations and individuals, Transnistria War veterans and signatories of the Moldovan Declaration of Independence, among several others. Ialoveni District and Băcioi in Moldova declared unification respectively with Ilfov County and Aleșd in Romania, while Iași also declared unification with Bukovina, the northern half of which is today in Ukraine.
The declarations were not meant to carry legal weight, but their strong symbolic value elicited reactions in both Moldova and Romania. They received a negative response from the President of Moldova at the time, Igor Dodon, and the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova (PSRM), to which Dodon had belonged before his election. Dodon defined the declarations as a threat to Moldovan statehood and sought the prosecution of local officials who signed them. Dodon and the PSRM launched a campaign for Moldovan localities to issue declarations against unification with Romania, reaching a number of over three hundred localities according to the PSRM, including the second-largest Moldovan city of Bălți and towns such as Soroca, Comrat and Sîngerei, as well as Ocnița District. In some localities, separate declarations in favor and against unification were issued at different times by local officials. In Romania, the Parliament adopted a declaration expressing the legitimacy of the desire of Moldovans in favor of uniting with Romania and Romania's preparation to respond to any moves towards unification by the population of Moldova.
Background Bessarabia, a geographical region corresponding up to a point with today's Moldova which was annexed in 1812 by the Russian Empire, voted for unification with Romania on 27 March 1918. The region remained under Romania until 1940, when the Soviet Union occupied and annexed the region. Thus, reunification with Romania was a largely undiscussed idea until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Since Moldova's independence, there has been a growing movement in support of the unification of Moldova and Romania. Both share the same Romanian language and an Eastern Orthodox faith.
Unification declarations Moldova Localities The localities in Moldova that declared unification with Romania in 2018 are encompassed in the following list. Moldovan and Romanian media provided several lists of their own in their newspaper articles, which vary in completeness and in the order in which these places declared their unifications. This list is based mainly on information from these newspaper articles, of which only the non-conflicting accurate and verifiable information has been used. Still, some localities missing in these articles and additional details on each locality may be based on other sources. These cases are noted with citations to them. Further, the names of the localities where it was reported that declarations both in favor and against unification with Romania were issued are in italics.
In total, around 163 localities (cities, communes, municipalities or villages) of Moldova declared unification with Romania. This list does not include cities, communes, municipalities or villages that did not do this by themselves but that are part of a higher administrative unit (communes, municipalities or districts) that did so.
Parcova (Edineț District) – 23 January 2018. Signed by mayor Marcel Snegur and some local councillors. The commune of Parcova includes the villages of Parcova and Fîntîna Albă (spelled "Fântâna Albă" in the union declaration). The declaration was signed in the event of the Day of the Unification of the Romanian Principalities, celebrated every 24 January. Ulmu (Ialoveni District) Bardar (Ialoveni District) Ruseștii Noi (Ialoveni District) Puhoi (Ialoveni District) Văsieni (Ialoveni District) Feștelița (Ștefan Vodă District) Opaci (Căușeni District) Gotești (Cantemir District) Săseni (Călărași District) Nișcani (Călărași District) Sărătenii Vechi (Telenești District) Grătiești () Boghiceni (Hîncești District) Codreanca (Strășeni District) Floreni (Anenii Noi District) – A declaration against unification with Romania was also emitted in the locality according to the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova (PSRM). Tîrșiței (Telenești District) – 9 February 2018. The commune was spelled as "Târșiței" in the unification document. Măgurele (Ungheni District) Răzeni (Ialoveni District) Cucoara (Cahul District) Meleșeni (Călărași District) Băcioi (Municipality of Chișinău) – 13 February 2018. Signed by the mayor Vitalie Șalari, the deputy mayor, the secretary of the commune and by 14 of the 23 local councillors; the declaration was kept open for the remaining 9 local councillors in case they wished to sign it. The union declaration with Romania also condemned the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. Later, on 29 March, the local council of the Romanian commune of Aleșd signed a union declaration with Moldova but also with Băcioi, as both localities were twinned, in presence of the mayor and deputy mayor of Băcioi. Ordășei (Telenești District) Visoca (Soroca District) Bădiceni (Soroca District) Drăsliceni (Criuleni District) Ghiduleni (Rezina District) Capaclia (Cantemir District) Ursoaia (Căușeni District) Cimișlia (Cimișlia District) – 16 February 2018. Signed by mayor Gheorghe Răileanu and the local authorities, which also voted 2018 as the Year of the Centenary of the Great Union. Cimișlia was the first Moldovan city that voted for unification with Romania. Vatici (Orhei District) – The Vatici commune is composed by the villages of Curchi, Tabăra and Vatici. Ciorești (Nisporeni District) Horești (Ialoveni District) Chetrosu (Drochia District) Cenac (Cimișlia District) Scoreni (Strășeni District) Mereni (Anenii Noi District) Mălăiești (Orhei District) Tătărești (Strășeni District) Negrești (Strășeni District) Coșeni (Ungheni District) – 22 February 2018. Signed by mayor Ion Rabacu, some local councillors and several inhabitants of Coșeni (44 out of 250 at the moment of the adoption of the document by the local authorities). This was done after an assembly on 18 February proposed by Rabacu to the locals of Coșeni and after an artistic program dedicated to Grigore Vieru, a Moldovan poet, made by students on the same day of the document's official adoption. Coșeni is not a commune by itself, but a village part of the Negurenii Vechi commune. Călimănești (Nisporeni District) Miclești (Criuleni District) Gura Galbenei (Cimișlia District) Colonița (Municipality of Chișinău) Călărași (Călărași District) Slobozia Mare (Cahul District) Copăceni (Sîngerei District) Ciuciuleni (Hîncești District) Cruzești (Municipality of Chișinău) Tănătari (Căușeni District) Sinești (Ungheni District) Păulești (Călărași District) Peticeni (Călărași District) Lozova (Strășeni District) Recea (Strășeni District) Carahasani (Ștefan Vodă District) Ciocîlteni (Orhei District) – The Ciocîlteni commune is composed by the villages of Ciocîlteni, Clișova Nouă and Fedoreuca. Copceac (Ștefan Vodă District) Țînțăreni (Telenești District) Cucuruzeni (Orhei District) – The Cucuruzeni commune is composed by the villages of Cucuruzeni and Ocnița-Răzeși. Mitoc (Orhei District) Brînzenii Noi (Telenești District) Secăreni (Hîncești District) Horodiște (Călărași District) – A declaration against unification with Romania was also emitted in the locality according to the PSRM. Buda (Călărași District) – A declaration against unification with Romania was also emitted in the locality according to the PSRM. Sireți (Strășeni District) Chircăiești (Căușeni District) Cuhnești (Glodeni District) Bolohan (Orhei District) Sîrma (Leova District) – A declaration against unification with Romania was also emitted in the locality according to the PSRM. Vărzărești (Nisporeni District) Javgur (Cimișlia District) Marinici (Nisporeni District) – A declaration against unification with Romania was also emitted in the locality according to the PSRM. Aluniș (Rîșcani District) – A declaration against unification with Romania was also emitted in the locality according to the PSRM. Ișcălău (Fălești District) Pitușca (Călărași District) Hirișeni (Telenești District) Vălcineț (Călărași District) Văleni (Cahul District) Colibași (Cahul District) Brînza (Cahul District) Sipoteni (Călărași District) Scorțeni (Telenești District) Tigheci (Leova District) Domulgeni (Florești District) Măgdăcești (Criuleni District) Dereneu (Călărași District) Morozeni (Orhei District) Tocuz (Căușeni District) Hîrcești (Ungheni District) Săiți (Căușeni District) Palanca (Ștefan Vodă District) Mașcăuți (Criuleni District) Biești (Orhei District) Bravicea (Călărași District) Popeasca (Ștefan Vodă District) Sărata-Galbenă (Hîncești District) Stolniceni (Hîncești District) Carabetovca (Basarabeasca District) – 5 March 2018. Signed by mayor Sergiu Răcilă and some local councillors. Carabetovca was the 100th locality in Moldova that declared unification with Romania and the first to do so of Basarabeasca District. Cojușna (Strășeni District) – 7 March 2018. Signed by mayor Sergiu Jereghi, the deputy mayor Igor Crăciun, local councillors and some teachers and other inhabitants of the village. The declaration was signed on the 490th anniversary of the appearance of the village of Cojușna in historical records. Later, the Local Council of Cojușna approved with a majority of votes the renaming of two streets in the village. These were the Podgorenilor Street, one of the main streets of Cojușna, which was renamed to "Centenary Street" (); and another street of the village whose name was changed to "Union Street" (). This was proposed by the independent councillor Vitalie Jereghi. A declaration against unification with Romania was also emitted in the locality according to the PSRM. Fetești (Edineț District) Gordinești (Edineț District) Budești (Municipality of Chișinău) Crihana Veche (Cahul District)