What Is Unionism’s Future in Moldova?

Vladimir ROTAR Despite the fact that the “official” unionist candidates turned out to be the main outsiders of the presidential race, the very idea of unification with Romania will continue to actively recruit supporters in Moldova The completed presidential race, as already noted, became a kind of prologue to early parliamentary elections, that might take place next year. Its results give a more or less clear picture of what is to happen with party projects presented by candidates for the head of state post. From this point of view, the results of the November vote should greatly sadden the two unionist candidates who are Dorin Chirtoaca and Octavivan Tsicu; they won a little over 3% of the vote for two. The reasons for this failure are quite prosaic. As is usually the case, the supporters of unification with neighboring Romania could not actually prepare for the upcoming campaign. Firstly, all disponible platforms were not fully used to promote their slogans and positions and secondly, the ideas themselves, which were stuck in the 90s, did not suffer any "upgrade". Both candidates never got out of the margins, the unionist movement has been falling over recent years. At the same time, it looks rather ridiculous that the Moldovan apologists for “reunification” once again proved to be unable to reach an agreement and even unite themselves. The Unirea bloc, which was born in agony, failed in accumulating all unionist forces; moreover, it was constantly opposed by the Tsicu National Unity Party. As a result, both formations devoted almost all their time criticizing mutual squabbles and reproaches, a thing that could not but affect the results of the candidates they delegated. The acute shortage of well-known people had a negative effect as well, because of which the same “Unirea” had to nominate the “no-go” Dorin Chirtoaca, who gained a “miserable” 1%. At the probable early elections to the main legislative body of the country, the unionists, apparently will also have "nothing to fight for", especially given the fact that after November 15, Unirea and PUN continued sorting things out. The above may suggest that the prospects for unionism in Moldova are not very bright ... But, oddly enough it is quite wrong. It is paradoxically but it is true: while the unionist forces suffer one political failure after another, the very idea of unification with Romania is quite alive and well. The conducted sociological studies demonstrate an explosive growth of unionist sentiments in Moldova: for example, more than a third of the population of the republic (34%) adhered to them last year and now most likely, even more. That is, we can confidently say that the “Unirea” idea has finally got out of the marginal groups and is being actively cultivated in the Moldovan society. At the same time, considering these 34 percent, it is to be understood that it is all not about those classic, slightly caricatured unionists whose political projection is the Unirea bloc and PUN. On the contrary, these are people of a completely different formation who don’t look at this idea from romantic or historical considerations, but more from practical and even pragmatic ones. These are those who are clearly oriented towards the West and want to see Moldova as its full-fledged member; anyway, they do understand that it is not the beginning of the 2010s, when Moldova was an excellent student of the Eastern Partnership, and the prospect of membership in the European Union seemed not so distant. Everything is different now: Moldova has significantly "rolled back" in its European integration path, the EU itself has changed and, after numerous crises and Brexit, began to retire into itself. The process of accepting even those states that are literally on the threshold of the Union is extremely difficult. As for a hypothetical membership for Moldova, the planning horizon equals to decades and the population of our republic is clearly not going to wait for so long. Therefore, in “Unirea” Moldovan citizens increasingly see the only way for Moldova to get into the coveted European family and finally make a sharp breakthrough in its development. This would partly explain both the devastating victory of Maia Sandu over Igor Dodon and the unprecedented mobilization of the foreign diaspora. Sandu is known for her loyalty to pro-union views. At the same time, unlike ordinary Moldovan unionists as Chirtoaca and Tsicu, she has much more chances to give impetus to this idea - at least an institutional ones. Obviously, some favorable ground is being created now to grow unionist sentiments. There are objective reasons for this (increasing dissatisfaction with the Moldovan reality and its constant internal political instability, weaked economy, corruption scandals and lack of reforms) and the head of state, who is no longer going to criminalize unionism in Moldova and does not declare himself a "Moldovan statesman" ... In addition, as well known, Maia Sandu aims at close cooperation with Bucharest and is going to make her first foreign visit to. By the way, the Romanian factor itself should not be forgotten either. Bucharest keeps confidently its finger on the pulse, fueling unionist sentiments. At the same time, it continues stimulating sympathy for itself through investments in infrastructure, supporting education in Romanian at all levels, many other various projects, as well as by distributing his citizenship among the Moldovan population. Thus, further unionism popularization should be expected in the near future, which in parallel will be closely intertwined with pro-European views. This means that in the foreseeable future the number of its supporters will reach a critical mass, and will directly raise the question of holding a national referendum. Whether Chisinau will take this step is a separate question, but it is curious that earlier Maia Sandu supported a plebiscite organization as a way to resolve the issue of Moldova and Romania unification.