Bucharest Enters the Electoral Race in Moldova Through Resurgence of Unionism

Sergiu CEBAN

The Romanian capital decided to adjust the approaches, which had previously consisted in purposefully pushing the Unionist voter into the PAS electoral niche, and to bring the political forces loyal to Romania out of the marginalized status

The day before, Chisinau celebrated the 107th anniversary of the unification of Bessarabia with Romania. The vote in Sfatul Tarii on 27 March 1918 opened the process of the Great Union, which was completed in Alba Iulia on 1 December 1918. This, as we know, was preceded by the creation of the Moldavian Democratic Republic at the end of 1917, so a significant part of our society uses historical analogies and believes that the current statehood of Moldova is also a temporary or transitory phenomenon. Consequently, after disengagement from the large Soviet-Russian empire, reunification with neighboring Romania, according to their conviction, is an inevitable matter. On this occasion, the inauguration of the Queen Mary monument, whose installation plan was unveiled on Uniri’s 100th anniversary in 2018, took place in the square of the Gheorghe Asachi Lyceum in Chisinau. The ceremony was attended by people of art and culture, officials, as well as a delegation from the Committee for Culture and Media of the Romanian Senate. It is noteworthy that none of the first persons of the state came to the event, thus demonstrating their attitude either to this historical figure or to the idea of pan-Romanian national unity. Against this background, the founding meeting of the National Reintegration Platform was held yesterday. According to the participants in the event, the initiative aims to unite the efforts of the country’s intellectuals in order to promote Romanianism. The members of the movement plan to be elected to the new parliament in order to legislatively promote unionism in Moldova. The Platform includes members of the first parliament, signatories of the Declaration of Independence, historians, journalists and teachers. Judging by their statements, they are all ardent supporters of creating a real Unionist force that will represent national-political aspirations in the future parliament. A few months later, the founders of the Platform are going to hold a “Congress of Romanians of Bessarabia” to demonstrate to the general public the scale of support for the Moldova-Romania reunification idea. In the meantime, Moldovan-Romanian relations is somewhat frozen due to quite obvious reasons. Both Romanian and Moldovan ruling regimes are in rather peculiar position, while Romania faces a protracted internal political crisis. Therefore, on the eve of our parliamentary and presidential elections in Romania, no one is ready to conclude any far-reaching agreements. One of the latest agreements of the politicians was that the members of the Committee for Culture and Media of the Romanian Senate and the Committee on Culture, Education, Research, Youth, Sports and Mass Media of the Moldovan Parliament will sign a resolution on the joint promotion of theatre performances. In addition, joint control is planned to be introduced at the Galati-Giurgiulesti checkpoint in the nearest future. Also, Moldova’s National Anticorruption Centre and Romania’s Anticorruption General Directorate signed a cooperation protocol last week. Obviously, this is not that crucial in the current regional context, which is a source of risks for both Romania and Moldova in its much more vulnerable position. That is probably the reason why Bucharest expects that part of the EU military budget can be allocated to ensure the security of critical border infrastructure. In this sense, it seems quite logical that the situation around Moldova was on the agenda of Romania’s Supreme National Defense Council on March 28. Council members discussed further support for Moldova’s European path, as well as aid adjusted to modern security and stability challenges. Undoubtedly, Bucharest’s political stance is important for Chisinau, and it was outlined by acting president Ilie Bolojan during his visit to our country in early March. In particular, Romania continues to support a comprehensive, peaceful and sustainable settlement of the Transnistrian conflict, respecting Moldova’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders, without prejudice to the European future. We therefore believe it’s not accidental that on the eve of key meetings at the level of Romania’s top leadership an OSCE delegation headed by the special representative of the current chairpersonship on the Transnistrian settlement visited Bucharest. In today’s context, when the further development has many options, a great deal will depend on Romania’s (geo)political decisions and concrete actions with regard to Moldova, which, unlike Ukraine, has a truly strategic importance for Bucharest. Ceding Moldova to Russia’s sphere of influence would be akin to a catastrophe for Romania. It is very likely that the Romanian capital is closely following the development of the US-Russian dialogue and expects more certainty, as well as understanding of the emerging international situation, depending on which the position regarding Moldova’s future fate will be (re)formulated. Potential sentiments in the Romanian elites can be indirectly judged by a recent interview of ex-premier and independent candidate for the presidential election Victor Ponta, which he gave to one of our news agencies. The Romanian politician emphasizes that Bucharest, first of all, must guarantee Moldova’s security in order not to involve it in the Russian-Ukrainian military confrontation. Ponta also unequivocally makes it clear that for the Romanian elites Moldova is located up to the Dniester, despite the fact that Chisinau thinks otherwise. Undoubtedly, the subject of unification in one form or another does not appear on the official bilateral agenda, as no one is ready to give an honest answer to this fundamental question. Meanwhile, the latest opinion polls in Moldova show that about 37% of respondents are ready to support the integration of the two states, while about 10% find it difficult or are not ready to express their opinion (rather positive than negative). Slightly more than 50% are against the merger of Moldova and Romania. All this suggests that support for reunification is smoothly approaching 50% and it will be increasingly difficult to ignore this factor, which has all chances to acquire not only political forms, but also stable parliamentary representation. The ruling Action and Solidarity Party, which seems to be confident that the pro-Romanian voters have already made their choice, has started to flirt with the Russian-speaking audience intending to launch a state television channel in Russian. From the point of view of pre-election tactics, the information influence on the electorate of the left-wing parties, which are the main opposing force, is justified and demanded. But from the point of view of political consistency, the strategy of compressing the Russian factor and stimulating the growth of the Romanian cultural and linguistic environment, such plans meet deep disappointment from even the most loyal PAS voters. This contradictory ambivalence of our authorities is most likely forcing both Bucharest and the Unionist proponents to intensify their political subjectivity. It seems that the Romanian capital has decided to adjust its approach, which previously consisted in purposefully pushing the Unionist voter into the PAS electoral niche, and to bring the political forces loyal to Romania out of their marginalized status. If the Platform for National Reintegration succeeds in seriously engaging and reorienting the pro-Romanian electorate towards itself, this threatens serious electoral losses for the ruling party and its plans to achieve the most convincing victory in the upcoming parliamentary elections.