The unification of Moldova and Romania is the idea that Moldova and Romania should become a single sovereign state and the political movement which seeks to bring it about. Beginning during the Revolutions of 1989 (including the Romanian Revolution and the independence of Moldova from the Soviet Union), the movement's basis is in the cultural similarity of the two countries, both being Romanian-speaking, and their history of unity as part of Greater Romania and the shared heritage of the Principality of Moldavia.
The question of reunification is recurrent in the public sphere of the two countries, often as a speculation, both as a goal and a danger. Though historically Romanian support for unification has been high, a March 2022 survey following the Russian invasion of Ukraine indicated that 11% of Romania's population supported an immediate union, while over 42% considered it was not the right moment.
A majority in Moldova continues to oppose it. However, support in Moldova for reunification has increased significantly, with polls asking "if a referendum took place next Sunday regarding the unification of the Republic of Moldova and Romania, would you vote for or against the unification?" rising from approximately 20% to 44% support from 2015 to 2022. Support for unification with Romania is much lower in the more pro-Russian regions of Transnistria and Gagauzia than in the rest of Moldova.
Individuals who advocate the unification are usually called "unionists" (). The supporters of the union may refer to the opponents as "Moldovenists" (). When referring to themselves as a group, opponents of the unification sometimes use the term "Statalists" ().
Background
The Principality of Moldavia was established in 1359 with Bogdan I, a Romanian voivode from Maramureș, becoming its first independent ruler. In 1538 the country became a vassal state of the Ottoman Empire. Its eastern territories between the Prut and the Dniestr (approximately half of the principality corresponding roughly to today's territory of Moldova) were annexed by the Russian Empire in 1812, in accordance with the Treaty of Bucharest. The Russians referred to this new region as Bessarabia, taking a name that had previously only applied to a southern portion of the region (known also as the "Budjak") and extending it to cover the entire newly annexed territory. The name derives from the Wallachian Basarab dynasty, who had ruled over the southern region in the Middle Ages. During the Russian Revolution of 1917, a newly formed regional parliament (Sfatul Țării) declared Bessarabia's autonomy within Russia. In 1918, after the Romanian army entered Bessarabia, the makeshift parliament decided on independence, only to review its position and ultimately decide on a conditional union with Romania. The conditions, including the provisions for autonomy, were ultimately dropped.King, Charles (2000). "The Moldovans: Romania, Russia, and the Politics of Culture". Hoover Press, p. 35. This unification is now commemorated by unionists in Romania and Moldova as the Day of the Union of Bessarabia with Romania on 27 March.
In 1940, during World War II, Romania agreed to an ultimatum and ceded Bessarabia and northern Bukovina to the Soviet Union, which organized Bessarabia into the Moldavian SSR. In mid-1941, Romania joined the Axis powers in the invasion of the Soviet Union, recovering both territories, as well as occupying the territory to the east of the Dniester it dubbed "Transnistria". By the end of World War II, the Soviet Union had reconquered all of these territories, reestablishing Soviet authority there. The Soviets strongly promoted the Moldovan ethnic identity, against other opinions that viewed all speakers of the Romanian language as part of a single ethnic group, taking advantage of the incomplete integration of Bessarabia into interwar Romania.King (2000)Mackinlay & Cross (2003), pg. 135.
The official Soviet policy also stated that Romanian and Moldovan were two different languages and, to emphasize this distinction, Moldovan had to be written in a new Cyrillic alphabet (the Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet) based on the reformed Russian Cyrillic, rather than the obsolete Romanian Cyrillic alphabet that ceased to be used in the 19th century in the Old Kingdom and 1917 in Bessarabia.Mackinlay & Cross (2003), p. 140.
Developments after 1989
In September 1989, with the liberalization in the Soviet Union, the parliament of the Moldovan SSR declared Moldovan as the official language, and asserted the existence of a "Moldovan-Romanian linguistic identity". published in Veștile nr.9/217, 1989
On 6 May 1990, after several decades of strict separation, Romania and the Moldovan SSR temporarily lifted border crossing restrictions, and thousands of people crossed the Prut River which marked their common border. , , 8 May 1990.
The factors hindering the unification were complex, ranging from the caution of political leaders in Moldova and Romania, the war in Transnistria, and, perhaps more importantly, the mentality of large parts of the population in Moldova (and to some extent in Romania) who were indifferent or opposed to such a project."Romania's relations with Moldova are more ambiguous. The instability of Ion Iliescu's pro-Moscow government in Bucharest has made both sides cautious in seeking ties with one another. In August 1990 Romania announced plans to help Moldova develop a national police force, and a month later the two signed a treaty of cooperation. Although each side has disavowed Romanian-Moldovan reunification, groups are lobbying for it in both republics." Martha Brill Olcott, "The Soviet (Dis)Union", Foreign Policy, No. 82. (Spring 1991), p. 130 In his address to the Romanian parliament, in February 1991, Moldova's first President Mircea Snegur spoke of a common identity of Moldovans and Romanians, referring to the "Romanians of both sides of the Prut River".Problems, Progress and Prospects in a Post-Soviet Borderland: The Republic of Moldova. Trevor Waters. "In an address to the Romanian parliament in February 1991 (on the first official visit to Romania by any leader from Soviet Moldova since its annexation), the then President Snegur strongly affirmed the common Moldovan-Romanian identity, noting, 'We have the same history and speak the same language,' and referred to 'Romanians on both sides of the River Prut'. In June 1991 the Romanian parliament vehemently denounced the Soviet annexation of Bessarabia and Northern Bucovina, describing the territories as 'sacred Romanian lands'." In June 1991, Snegur talked about Moldova moving toward the reunification with Romania, adding that the Soviet Union was not making great efforts to stop it."Moldavians seek to unite with Romania", The Independent, 4 June 1991, p. 12
While many Moldovan intellectuals supported the union and wanted a "reunion with the Romanian motherland",King (2000), p. 345. there was little popular support for it, with more than 70% of the Moldovans opposing it, according to a 1992 poll. At the same time, Transnistria, the eastern part of Moldova, inhabited by similar numbers of Moldavians, Russians, and Ukrainians, used the putative danger of unification with Romania as a pretext for its own aspirations for staying with Russia.According to recent polls, 70 percent of Moldovans reject unification with Romania as "undesirable", while only 7–10 percent support it as necessary (Daily Report, 30 December 1992, p. 3) John B. Dunlop, "Will a Large-Scale Migration of Russians to the Russian Republic Take Place over the Current Decade?", in International Migration Review, Vol. 27, No. 3. (Autumn 1993), pp. 605–629.
On 26 June 1991, at the request of Larry Pressler, the U.S. Senate adopted a resolution which supported the unification of Moldova and Northern Bukovina with Romania.
Political ties and unionism Following the declaration of independence on 27 August 1991, the Romanian flag defaced with the Moldovan coat of arms and the Romanian anthem became the symbols of the new independent Moldova.Mackinlay & Cross (2003), p. 139. Following the growing tension between the pro-union governing Moldovan Popular Front and president Snegur, in particular over unification,George Berkin, "Secession blues", National Review, 9 September 1991 the president moved closer to the Moldovanist group of Agrarians, and appointed their candidate Andrei Sangheli as prime minister. As a result, and especially after the victory of Agrarians in the 1994 elections, Moldova began distancing itself from Romania. The state flag was slightly modified, and the anthem changed to . The Moldovan referendum of 1994 for an independent Moldova was seen by many public figures to be aimed at implicitly excluding a union with Romania. Furthermore, the constitution adopted in 1994 by the new Parliament dominated by Moldovanist Agrarians and Socialists called the official language "Moldovan", as opposed to the earlier Declaration of independence that called it "Romanian". The attempt by Moldovan president Mircea Snegur in 1996 to change the name of the official language to "Romanian" was dismissed by the Moldovan Parliament as "promoting Romanian expansionism".
In an interview, former Romanian President Ion Iliescu, who is criticized for failing to unify Romania with Moldova as soon as the latter declared its independence from the Soviet Union, explained that Romania alone, without international support (including from the Western countries) and without the wish of the politicians in Chișinău, was unable to achieve this unification.
A "Concept on National Policy" was adopted in 2003 by the Communist dominated Parliament, stating that Moldovans and Romanians are different peoples, and that the latter are an ethnic minority in Moldova.
Before 2005, only the Christian-Democratic People's Party, one of the political heirs of the Moldovan Popular Front, actively supported unification. However, the stance of the Christian-Democrats changed significantly after they started collaborating closely with the ruling Moldovan Communists. During the elections of April 2009, the alliance of National Liberal Party () and the European Action Movement () ran on a common platform of a loose union with Romania, but accumulated only around 1% of the votes.
On 2 March 2023, the Moldovan parliament voted the change of the state language from "Moldovan" to Romanian. The idea was supported by the ruling Party of Action and Solidarity and was strongly opposed by the Bloc of Communists and Socialists. The Academy of Sciences of Moldova also supported this decision.
Political commentary 2000s In 2004 and later, the Romanian newspaper Ziua published a series of articles and interviews with Stanislav Belkovsky, an influential Russian political commentator, who proposed a plan of a unification of Romania 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 Bender 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 of the same year, 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.