Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-12-18-Speech-4-187"
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"en.20031218.9.4-187"2
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"Mr President, the predominantly Romanian-speaking region that was previously known as Bessarabia and is now called Moldova was part of Romania between the two world wars, but belonged to Russia before and afterwards.
When the Soviet Union collapsed, the same national colours were chosen as those of the Romanian flag, and many thought about a return to Romania. Since then, the country has been torn apart by diverging opinions on its political future.
Many within the two conflicting population groups support an old-fashioned kind of authoritarian communist, in whom they see their best chance of survival despite their low incomes. That is the only thing they do agree on, however.
The minority who speak a Slavonic language, principally in the narrow strip of land on the eastern bank of the river Dniester, want to preserve the traditional strong bond with Ukraine, Russia and Belarus. The Romanian-speaking majority in the rest of the country would probably have joined Romania long ago if that country did not lag so far behind western Europe. The way that Romania is now, few consider joining that much larger country a matter of urgency.
Within Romania, too, endeavours to regain Moldova have become less urgent. When I visited Romania last year, I even heard a Romanian member of parliament state proudly that Romania is the only country that is still adhering properly to the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, which established the new western borders of the Soviet Union on the eve of the Second World War.
The European Union must be careful that it does not appoint itself guardian of that short-lived agreement between Stalin and Hitler for eternity. The two conflicting population groups within Moldova once agreed to part company peacefully if the majority were to join Romania. It would therefore be prudent to take account of the possibility of the river Dniester becoming the frontier between Romania and Ukraine again in the future. That is another eventuality that we should keep in mind."@en1
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