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| The Republic of Moldova celebrates the 21st anniversary of its independence |
| (2012-08-27) |
| Last updated: 2012-08-28 15:15 EET |
 The end of August is accompanied each year by the recollection of some major events in the history of the Republic of Moldova, a young state with a majority Romanian speaking population that borders Romania to the east.
The 23rd of August 1939 marks the signing in Moscow of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact between Germany and the USSR under which the historical province of Bessarabia was separated from the Romanian Kingdom and annexed to Moscow. This gave rise to both an ideological and linguistic occupation. Of the latter, Moldovans rid themselves on the 27th of August 1989, when the Parliament in Chisinau reintroduced the Romanian language as the official language of the country, thus eliminating the concoction known as the Moldovan language, and returned to the Latin alphabet.
The country’s most important moment was to take place also on the 27th of August, in 1991, at a time when a string of events led to the imminent collapse of the Soviet Union. That year, the Parliament in Chisinau proclaimed the country’s independence, a move immediately recognised by Romania. The euphoria that came with the birth of the new state was short lived, as one year later, pro-Russian separatism in Transnistria quickly degenerated into an armed conflict that questioned this very statehood.
In 1992, after clashes that left many dead and wounded and in which the Russian troops stationed in the region also got involved, Transnistria broke away with Chisinau. The Republic of Moldova then suffered for almost a decade at the hands of a long and damaging period of anachronistic communist rule. Obsessed with the idea of a foreign conspiracy and a deep anti-Romanian sentiment, the communists managed, despite public statements in favour of integration, to delay the country’s European aspirations into a politically muddy area characterised by questionable democracy and a bankrupt economy. Things changed in 2009 with the coming to power of a pro-European alliance.
Its efforts to come closer to the European Union have also been acknowledged by the German chancellor Angela Merkel, who recently paid a visit to Chisinau: “The success of the reforms is clear”, she said, “and shows that the association and free trade agreement and the conditions for visa liberalisation are remarkable.” Chisinau’s efforts to become a democratic and prosperous member of the European Union also found a staunch supporter in the United States, said President Barack Obama in a message conveyed on the occasion of Moldova’s independence anniversary. Washington, which forms part of the talks to settle the Transnistria conflict, promised to support a solution that retains the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Moldova.
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