Romania is ready to start negotiations with Moldova about a possible unification, if Chisinau considers such an option. This position was expressed by Eugen Tomac, the president of Romania’s adviser for relations with Romanians in the diaspora and a Member of the European Parliament, during an interview. He also noted that in light of the recent statement by Moldova’s president Maia Sandu, who expressed willingness to support unification provided a referendum is held, the unification option should be based on the will of the citizens and the positions of both states.
Position and Context
“In my view, any conscientious Romanian, regardless of which side of the Prut they live on, views the issue of uniting the two states as a natural process.”
– Eugen Tomac, MEP
According to Tomac, Bucharest is ready at any moment to sit down at the negotiating table and seriously discuss the unification scenario, but only on the condition that the Republic of Moldova would consider it acceptable. “This is their right to decide their future”, he added.
“This is their right to decide their future”
– Eugen Tomac, MEP
When asked whether Romania is ready for a unification scenario involving the EU, NATO, and the United States, the president’s adviser underlines that “all our partners know that in both Romania and the Republic of Moldova there lives the same people”.
“All our partners know that there is one and the same people living in both Romania and the Republic of Moldova”
– Eugen Tomac, presidential adviser
Tomac also stressed the historical context: in 2018 Romania unanimously adopted a declaration of readiness to discuss with Moldova at any time the question of unification of the two states. This remains Romania’s official position, which has not changed since then.
«On the other hand, we must take into account the realities of the time we live in, namely that in the Republic of Moldova there has been a large-scale process of de-oligarization, but it has not reached the maturity that would allow the political elite to consider the issue of unification from a different angle than the one currently applied in Chișinău», the politician notes.
“On the other hand, we must take into account the realities of the times in which we live, namely that in the Republic of Moldova there has been a large-scale process of de-oligarization, but it has not reached the maturity that would allow the political elite to consider the problem of unification from a different angle than the one currently applied in Chișinău”
– Eugen Tomac, presidential adviser
Additionally, Tomac emphasized that Romania fully supports Moldova’s euro-integration. It was also noted that about half of Moldovans hold Romanian passports.
Regarding public opinion in Moldova, the country’s leader Sandu, in the podcast The Rest is Politics, expressed personal support for the idea of Moldova uniting with Romania, but stressed that this position does not enjoy broad support among the population: according to polls, only about 28% of Moldova’s citizens are willing to consider such a path.
The history of the Moldovan principality leaves traces in regional processes: in 1812 the Russian Empire annexed the eastern lands between the Prut and the Dniester, naming them Bessarabia, and over time the region underwent several transformations and changes under various centers of power. In 1940, Soviet authorities again changed the status of this territory.