|
RRI newsletter subcription
(e-mail address):
|
| 200 Years since Bessarabia’s Annexation by the Russian Empire |
| (2012-05-17) |
| Last updated: 2012-05-18 13:55 EET |
The 1812 Russian-Turkish Peace treaty under which Bessarabia, a Romanian region on the left bank of the Prut River was annexed to the Czarist Empire was evoked both in Chisinau and Romania. Bessarabia’s breakaway process is widely seen as one of the most painful and unfair episodes in Romania’s history.
Professor Gheorghe Cliveti, PhD of the A.D.Xenopol Institute in Iasi (eastern Romania) enlarged on the event:
Georghe Cliveti: “Russia forced the Ottoman Empire to cede the territory, but did this at the expense of the small principality of Moldavia, which the Russian Czar had promised to protect. It is hard to come by another example in world history of a protector that steals a territory invoking a territory under its protection. 1812 was a tension-filled year – Napoleon’s campaign in Russia also bore on Bessarabia’s fate and Russia’s claims were much bigger as they touched on both Moldavia and Wallachia. Then the issue of a border on the Siret River also emerged and the Russians hastily accepted this part of the territory, without granting it a province status.”
On Wednesday, flags flew at half-mast in Chisinau, the capital of the majority Romanian-speaking Republic of Moldova. Members and supporters of the Liberal Party laid flower wreaths on the monument standing in front of the government building.
“This day marks 200 years of battle, which have seen the demise of thousands of people fighting for liberty”, Mihai Ghimpu, head of the Liberal Party said. He also voiced his regret that the other parties of the ruling Alliance for European Integration did not join in commemorating the event.
Chisinau’s Liberal mayor Dorin Chirtoaca ruled May 16th a mourning day, but this, as well as the commemorative actions organized by the Liberals, did not sit well with the Socialists and gave rise to clashes in the center of the city. In Romania, the moment was marked by an international conference in the Northeastern city of Iasi, a conference in the Romanian Academy and a debate at the Senate building in Bucharest.
In his speech, Romanian PM Victor Ponta emphasized that Bessarabia’s annexation continues to have far-reaching political and social consequences in Romania and the Republic of Moldova. “Separation imposed by a border set up by the ruling powers of the time has divided families, as well as common faiths, customs, language and culture” PM Ponta added.
|
|
| |
WMA |
|
64kbps : |
1
2
3
|
|
|
128kbps : |
1
2
3
|
| |
MP3 |
|
|
64kbps : |
1
2
3
|
|
|
128kbps : |
1
2
3
|
| |
AAC+ |
|
|
48kbps : |
1
2
3
|
|
|
64kbps : |
1
2
3
|
 Historical mascot of
RRI |
2025-04-05
Print
Listen again