Independence of Moldova

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The independence of Moldova was officially recognized on 2 March 1992, when Moldova gained membership of the United Nations. The nation had declared its independence from the Soviet Union on 27 August 1991, and was a co-founder of the post-Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States. Moldova became fully independent from the Soviet Union that December, and joined the United Nations three months later.

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Background

Stamp commemorating the date of 23 June 1991, the date on which the independence of the Republic of Moldova was voted and proclaimed by the Moldovan Parliament. Stamp of Moldova md394-6a.jpg
Stamp commemorating the date of 23 June 1991, the date on which the independence of the Republic of Moldova was voted and proclaimed by the Moldovan Parliament.

In the new political conditions created after 1985 by the glasnost policy introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev in 1986 to support perestroika (restructuring), a Democratic Movement of Moldova (Romanian : Mişcarea Democratică din Moldova) was formed, which in 1989 became known as the nationalist Popular Front of Moldova (FPM; Romanian : Frontul Popular din Moldova). [1] [2] Along with several other Soviet republics, from 1988 onwards, Moldova started to move towards independence. On 27 August 1989, the FPM organized a mass demonstration in Chişinău, that became known as the Great National Assembly (Romanian : Marea Adunare Naţională), which pressured the authorities of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic to adopt a language law on 31 August 1989, that proclaimed the Moldovan language written in the Latin script to be the state language of the MSSR. Its identity with the Romanian language was also established. [1] [3]

The first independent elections for the local parliament were held in February and March 1991. Mircea Snegur was elected as speaker of the parliament, and Mircea Druc as prime minister. On 23 June 1990, the parliament adopted the Declaration of Sovereignty of the Soviet Socialist Republic Moldova, which, among other things, stipulated the supremacy of Moldovan laws over those of the Soviet Union. [1] After the failure of the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, on 27 August 1991, Moldova declared its independence. On 21 December of the same year, Moldova, along with most of the former Soviet republics, signed the constitutive act that formed the post-Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Moldova became fully independent from the Soviet Union on 25 December 1991. The following day the Soviet Union ceased to exist. Declaring itself a neutral state, it did not join the military branch of the CIS. Three months later, on 2 March 1992, the country gained formal recognition as an independent state at the United Nations. In 1994, Moldova became a member of NATO's Partnership for Peace program and also a member of the Council of Europe on 29 June 1995. [1]

Declaration of Independence of Moldova

The Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Moldova was a document adopted by the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The document claims "millenary history" and "uninterrupted statehood" within historic and ethnic borders.

The Republic of Moldova gained official recognition of statehood on 2 March 1992, when gaining membership of the United Nations.

Disputed status of Transnistria

Transnistrian region of Moldova TransnistrianRegionMap.png
Transnistrian region of Moldova

The Moldovan Declaration of Independence clearly and directly claims Moldovan sovereignty over the territory of Transnistria as it is "a component part of the historical and ethnic territory of our people". However, the Moldovan Declaration of Independence is itself used as an argument against Moldovan sovereignty over Transnistria as it denounces the agreement of 23 August 1939, between the government of the Soviet Union and the government of Nazi Germany, the only formal mention of the union between the two territories, "null and void" . [4]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 (in Romanian) Horia C. Matei, "State lumii. Enciclopedie de istorie." Meronia, București, 2006, p. 292-294
  2. "Romanian Nationalism in the Republic of Moldova Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine " by Andrei Panici, American University in Bulgaria, 2002; pages 40 and 41
  3. Legea cu privire la functionarea limbilor vorbite pe teritoriul RSS Moldovenesti Nr.3465-XI din 01.09.89 Vestile nr.9/217, 1989 Archived 2006-02-19 at the Wayback Machine (Law regarding the usage of languages spoken on the territory of the Republic of Moldova): "Moldavian SSR supports the desire of the Moldovans that live across the borders of the Republic, and considering the existing linguistic Moldo-Romanian identity — of the Romanians that live on the territory of the USSR, of doing their studies and satisfying their cultural needs in their native language."
  4. Tiraspol Times; Former ASSR Pridnestrovie reminds Moldova: "You yourself denounced our union"

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The history of Moldova can be traced to the 1350s, when the Principality of Moldavia, the medieval precursor of modern Moldova and Romania, was founded. The principality was a vassal of the Ottoman Empire from 1538 until the 19th century. In 1812, following one of several Russian–Turkish wars, the eastern half of the principality, Bessarabia, was annexed by the Russian Empire. In 1918, Bessarabia briefly became independent as the Moldavian Democratic Republic and, following the decision of the Parliament, united with Romania. During the Second World War it was occupied by the Soviet Union which reclaimed it from Romania. It joined the Union as the Moldavian ASSR, until the dissolution of the USSR. In 1991 the country declared independence as the Republic of Moldova.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moldova</span> Country in Eastern Europe

Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, on the northeastern corner of the Balkans. The country spans a total of 33,483 km2 and has a population of approximately 2.5 million as of January 2023. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised breakaway state of Transnistria lies across the Dniester river on the country's eastern border with Ukraine. Moldova is a unitary parliamentary representative democratic republic with its capital in Chișinău, the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre.

Moldovan, archaically spelled Moldavian, is one of the two local names for the Romanian language in Moldova. Moldovan was declared the official language of Moldova in Article 13 of the constitution adopted in 1994, while the 1991 Declaration of Independence of Moldova used the name Romanian. In 2003, the Moldovan parliament adopted a law defining Moldovan and Romanian as glottonyms for the same language. In 2013, the Constitutional Court of Moldova interpreted that Article 13 of the constitution is superseded by the Declaration of Independence, thus giving official status to the name Romanian. The breakaway region of Transnistria continues to recognize Moldovan as one of its official languages, alongside Russian and Ukrainian. Ukraine also continues to make a distinction between Moldovan and Romanian, with one village declaring its language to be Romanian and another declaring it to be Moldovan, though Ukrainian officials have announced an intention to remove the legal status of Moldovan. On 16 March 2023, the Moldovan Parliament approved a law on referring to the national language as Romanian in all legislative texts and the constitution. On 22 March, the president of Moldova, Maia Sandu, promulgated the law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transnistria</span> Unrecognised state in Eastern Europe

Transnistria or Pridnestrovie, officially known as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), is an internationally unrecognized state, recognized as part of Moldova. Transnistria controls most of the narrow strip of land between the Dniester river and the Moldova–Ukraine border, as well as some land on the other side of the river's bank. Its capital and largest city is Tiraspol. Transnistria has been recognised only by two other unrecognised or partially recognised breakaway states: Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Transnistria is officially designated by the Republic of Moldova as the Administrative-Territorial Units of the Left Bank of the Dniester or as Stînga Nistrului. In March 2022, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted a resolution that defines the territory as under military occupation by Russia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic</span> Republic of the Soviet Union (1940–1991)

The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic or Moldavian SSR, also known as the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic, Moldovan SSR, or simply Moldavia or Moldova, was one of the 15 republics of the Soviet Union which existed from 1940 to 1991. The republic was formed on 2 August 1940 from parts of Bessarabia, a region annexed from Romania on 28 June of that year, and parts of the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, an autonomous Soviet republic within the Ukrainian SSR.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mircea Snegur</span> President of Moldova from 1990 to 1997

Mircea Snegur was a Moldovan agronomist and politician who served as the first President of Moldova from 1990 to 1997. Prior to that, he served as the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Moldavian SSR from 1989 to 1990 and chairman of the Supreme Soviet from 27 April to 3 September 1990.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Popular Front of Moldova</span> 1989–1992 political movement in the Moldavian SSR

The Popular Front of Moldova was a political movement in the Moldavian SSR, one of the 15 union republics of the former Soviet Union, and in the newly independent Republic of Moldova. Formally, the Front existed from 1989 to 1992. It was the successor to the Democratic Movement of Moldova, and was succeeded by the Christian Democratic Popular Front and ultimately by the Christian-Democratic People's Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of the Transnistria War</span> A chronological list of incidents related to the Transnistria War

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moldova–Romania relations</span> Bilateral relations

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Controversy over ethnic and linguistic identity in Moldova</span>

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