Bridging the divide between Romania and Moldova

While other former Soviet republics hope to become EU members, inclusion can also have its divisive effects… 17 years ago there was a bridge of flowers over the Prut River. In an outpour of emotion Romanians on both sides of the river reached out to each other as the border between the Republic of Moldova and Romania opened for the first time in a post-soviet world. Back then, many hoped they would be reunited, but despite the ethnic and linguistic bond between Romania and the Republic of Moldova, the two states have had a different post-communist history.

The border between Romania and the Republic of Moldova is now the eastern border of the EU and one of the obligations of Romania as EU member is to secure its eastern borders. And that's not easy when you have 500,000 Moldovan families submitting applications to regain Romanian citizenship. Romanian Minister of the Interior Vasile Blaga:

"The 500,000 hand written applications for Romanian citizenship are family applications, which means that about 900,000 Moldovan citizens are applying for Romanian citizenship. At the EU Justice and Internal Affairs Council I was asked: In your opinion, if you grant Romanian citizenship to one million Moldovan citizens, how many of them will stay in Romania? I answered by estimating that a maximum of 10% will stay in Romania. The rest will head towards the rich EU countries in search of a better life."

The Romanian state wants to grant citizenship to Moldovans whose parents or grandparents had been Romanian citizens before 1940. But this and the constant support Romania has given to the Republic of Moldova to get closer to the European Union are not well regarded by Chisinau. The leaders in Chisinau say they don’t need Romania’s help in their relation with the EU. But they are not moving forward in this relation, despite a pro-European discourse in Chisinau as Radio Romania's correspondent in Chisinau, Mircea Nastase, says:

“The Republic of Moldova made of European Integration a strategic objective. That happened several years ago. But, according to political analysts, civil society and the political opposition in Chisinau this objective is not doubled by firm and concrete actions taken by the Moldovan authorities.”

At present the Republic of Moldova has a Partnership and Cooperation Agreement with the EU. And in 2005, Chisinau signed an EU-Moldova action plan reinforcing bilateral relations with the EU but it seems that there has been little progress down this road. According to our correspondent in Chisinau it looks like, the pro-European statements made by Chisinau of late are a more of an electoral hobby horse than a real commitment to bringing the country closer to the EU.

“The recent pro-European statements by Chisinau may be interpreted, according to analysts, as an attempt to win over the population in view of the local elections due early in the summer.”

The people would do anything to escape the dire poverty in Moldova. They would gladly unite with Romania, but as president Traian Basescu said, Romanians and Moldovans can only be reunited within the EU. Moldovan president Vladimir Voronin however rebuffed the idea saying Moldova “will not unite with anyone, ever”. Relations have deteriorated significantly of late, so that recently Moldova reversed its decision to allow Romania to open two new consulates that would facilitate visa processing in a bid to shorten long queues in front of the Romanian consulate in Chisinau. Yet, Romania is determined to help the ethnic Romanians in Moldova as much as it can. Outgoing foreign minister Mihai Razvan Ungureanu:

“The Romanian Foreign Ministry has continued to support the interests of the Moldovan citizens, irrespective of who is in power in Chisinau. We believe we know the interests of the people and we can help the Moldovan citizens where it is possible. I think Romania has shown to the hundreds of thousands of Moldovans who see in Romania an opportunity, it has shown that Europe is real and that there is no problem for Moldova to become a member of this family, sooner or later. There is no problem except one: the political will of the authorities in Chisinau.”

While the EU needs time to reflect before further expansion, Moldova seems to need time to reflect whether it really wants to join the EU. In theory the Republic of Moldova states its European vocation, but in practice Chisinau seems to be still vacillating between Brussels and Moscow.

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