I | INTRODUCTION |
Moldova, republic in southeastern Europe. In Moldovan,
the state language, the country’s official name is Republica Moldova.
Moldova is bordered on the north, east, and south by Ukraine and on the west by
Romania. Moldovans are the country’s largest ethnic group, although other ethnic
groups constitute a majority in some regions. Chişinău is Moldova’s capital and
largest city.
Present-day Moldova comprises a large part of
the eastern half of the historic principality of Moldavia (the principality is
generally known by the Westernized form of the name). At its largest extent, in
the Middle Ages, the principality stretched from the Dniester River in the east
almost to the Carpathian Mountains in the west. Much of the eastern half of
Moldavia, between the Prut and Dniester rivers, was traditionally known as
Bessarabia (Bessarabiya). Moldavian territory was divided in 1812, when the
Ottoman Empire took control of all of the land west of the Prut River and Russia
took control of the rest. The Russian government gave the name Bessarabia to the
territory under its control to distinguish it from neighboring
Ottoman-controlled Moldavia.
In 1918 Bessarabia became independent and then
united with Romania. Troops of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR,
the successor to the Russian Empire) occupied Bessarabia in 1940. The Soviet
government joined most of Bessarabia to part of the already existing Moldavian
Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (ASSR), across the Dniester River, to form
the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR). Romania regained Bessarabia in
1941 but lost it again to the USSR in 1944. When the USSR collapsed in 1991, the
republic became the independent country of Moldova. In addition to the region of
Bessarabia, present-day Moldova also includes territory along the left bank of
the Dniester known as Trans-Dniester. The remainder of the historic principality
of Moldavia is now part of Romania and Ukraine.
After declaring independence in 1991, Moldova
signed the agreement establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS),
an organization composed of former Soviet republics. Moldova became a formal
member of the CIS in 1994. That year the country adopted its first post-Soviet
constitution. In the early 1990s secessionist movements among certain ethnic
groups took hold in the Trans-Dniester region and in the Gagauz region in the
south. While the status of the Trans-Dniester region remained an issue as of
1999, the armed conflict over Moldova’s territorial integrity was largely
resolved by the mid-1990s.
II | LAND AND RESOURCES |
Moldova is a landlocked country that covers an
area of about 33,700 sq km (about 13,000 sq mi). It was the second smallest
republic of the former USSR, after Armenia. The terrain of Moldova is primarily
a hilly plain interspersed with deep river valleys. The average elevation is 147
m (482 ft) above sea level. The Kodry Hills occupy the central portion of
Moldova, rising to a maximum elevation of about 430 m (about 1,410 ft) at Mount
Bălăneşti.
Moldova contains an extensive river system;
more than 3,000 rivers and streams traverse the country. The two largest rivers
are the Dniester and the Prut, both of which rise in the Carpathian Mountains in
Ukraine, to the north of Moldova. The Dniester, the larger of the two rivers,
flows through the eastern portion of Moldova in a southeasterly direction. It
forms part of the country’s border with Ukraine in the northeast, cuts through
Moldova’s interior, and meets the Ukrainian border again in the southeast, where
it reenters Ukraine and then empties into the Black Sea. The Prut, a major
tributary of the Danube River, forms Moldova’s entire western border with
Romania. At the extreme southern tip of Moldova, the Prut joins the Danube,
which flows eastward and empties into the Black Sea. Other major rivers include
the Yalpug, the Byk, and the Reut.
The hills in the central portion of Moldova
are densely forested, mostly with oak and hornbeam trees. Linden, maple, beech,
and wild fruit trees also grow in Moldova. Cultivated crops have largely
replaced the natural grass cover of the plains, or steppes, in northern and
southern Moldova. Grassy salt marshes are common in some river valleys.
A wide variety of wildlife inhabits Moldova,
although the population of certain animals, such as wolves, has declined
dramatically during the last century. Roe deer, which are native to the region,
are abundant. The spotted deer, which was introduced to Moldova, is also well
established. Members of the weasel family, including badgers, martens, ermines,
and polecats, are common. Other mammals include wild boars, foxes, and hares.
Common birds include larks, jays, and blackbirds. Some species, such as the wild
goose, are migratory.
Natural resources in Moldova include deposits
of lignite, phosphorite, and gypsum. Three-quarters of the country is covered in
chernozem, an exceptionally fertile type of soil that is ideal for
agriculture.
Moldova’s climate is continental, with
conditions modified somewhat by the Black Sea. Winters are fairly mild, with
average daily temperatures in January ranging from –5° to –3°C (23° to 27°F).
Summers are quite warm, with average daily temperatures in July generally
exceeding 20°C (68°F) and daily highs occasionally reaching 40°C (104°F).
Precipitation is fairly light and irregular and occurs least in the south, where
it averages 350 mm (14 in) per year. Precipitation is greatest in the higher
elevation areas, where it can exceed 600 mm (20 in) per year. Moldova’s climate
is conducive to agriculture, especially grape growing.
The environment of Moldova suffered extreme
degradation during the Soviet period, when industrial and agricultural
development proceeded without regard for environmental protection. Excessive use
of pesticides resulted in heavily polluted topsoil, and industries lacked
emission controls. The Moldovan government is now burdened with the Soviet
legacy of ecological mismanagement. Environmental initiatives are administered
by the State Department for Environmental Protection. High levels of pesticide
and fertilizer use have been linked with elevated rates of disease and infant
mortality. Soil contamination and groundwater pollution are associated
problems.
III | THE PEOPLE OF MOLDOVA |
Moldova has a population (2008 estimate) of
4,324,450, giving it an average population density of 130 persons per sq km (336
per sq mi). The country’s inhabitants are concentrated in the northern and
central portions of the country. During the Soviet period, Moldova had the
highest population density of any Soviet republic, although it was one of the
least urbanized. Some 53 percent of the population lives in urban areas.
Chişinău, the capital, is located on the Byk River in the central part of the
country. Other important cities include Tiraspol and Tighina (also called
Bender), both located on the Dniester River in eastern Moldova, and Bălţi, in
north central Moldova. The rural population is clustered in large villages.
Ethnic Moldovans constitute about 65 percent
of Moldova’s population. The next largest ethnic group is Ukrainians, who make
up about 14 percent of the population, followed by Russians, who constitute
about 13 percent. Russians and Ukrainians migrated to Moldova in large numbers
after World War II (1939-1945), although settlement by these peoples also
predated the war. Both groups live almost exclusively in Moldova’s major urban
centers and in the Trans-Dniester region in the east, where they constitute
slightly more than half of the population. Other ethnic groups include Gagauz (a
Turkic people) and Bulgarians; these two groups reside primarily in the
southernmost regions of Moldova, having settled there in the late 18th and early
19th centuries.
The state language of Moldova is called
Moldovan. It is essentially a dialect of Romanian, a Romance language derived
mainly from the Latin language. In 1938 the Soviet government mandated that the
Cyrillic alphabet (the script of the Russian language) be used for Moldovan
instead of the Latin (or Roman) alphabet, in part to bolster its claim that the
Moldovan and Romanian languages were separate. In 1989 Moldovan officials passed
a law that made Romanian the official language and reintroduced the Latin
alphabet. In the constitution adopted in 1994 the language was officially
renamed Moldovan. Russian is widely spoken in Moldova and is the predominant
language in the Trans-Dniester region. The Gagauz people traditionally speak
Gagauz, a Turkic language, although many are also fluent in Russian. Russian
missionaries created a Cyrillic alphabet for the Gagauz language in 1895.
Christianity is the predominant religion in
Moldova. Nearly half of the population belongs to the Eastern Orthodox Church,
and there is also a small Roman Catholic community. Unlike most other Turkic
peoples, who are traditionally Muslim, the Gagauz are adherents of Orthodox
Christianity. The Communist regime of the Soviet period was officially atheistic
and hostile toward religion. Moldova began to experience an upsurge in religious
practice in the late 1980s, when the regime relaxed restrictions. This increased
after independence, when all restrictions on religious expression were
lifted.
Moldova has an adult literacy rate of 99
percent. Illiteracy is slightly higher among the female population than the male
population. Education in Moldova is compulsory between the ages of 6 and 16, or
through the first cycle of secondary education (the second cycle lasts an
additional three years). During the Soviet period, the government established a
comprehensive system of universal and tuition-free education. Most schools
taught in the Russian language, and education was the primary method of
Communist indoctrination. In the early 1990s the government of independent
Moldova introduced sweeping changes in educational content, especially in the
areas of literature, language, and history. Institutes of higher education
include Moldovan State University (founded in 1945), the Technical University of
Moldova (1964), the State Agricultural University of Moldova (1932), and the
Moldovan G. Musicescu Academy of Music (1940), all located in Chişinău. The
capital is also the site of the Moldovan State Art Museum.
The cultural development of Moldova was tied
historically to that of Romania, reflecting the Romanian origin of Moldova’s
majority population. The first Moldovan books were religious texts that appeared
in the mid-17th century. Prominent figures in Moldova’s cultural development
include the author Ion Creanga and the poet Mihai Eminescu, both of whom wrote
during the 19th century. After the USSR annexed Moldova in the 1940s, the Soviet
government sought to sever the region’s close cultural ties with Romania.
Romanian literature was officially banned, and many ethnic Romanian
intellectuals were executed or deported. During the Soviet period, a
government-mandated genre called socialist realism transformed art and
literature into a form of Communist propaganda. The characteristics of socialist
realism were strongly evident in the early works of Moldovan writers Emelian
Bucov and Andrei Lupan, among others. Perhaps the most well-known Moldovan
writer during the Soviet period was Ion Druţa, whose works include the play
Casa mare (The Parlor, 1962) and the novel Balade de cîmpie
(Ballad of the Steppes, 1963).
Moldova has a rich folk culture, which
flourished during the Soviet period. The Soviet government strongly promoted
Moldovan folk music and dance, but it also introduced subtle distortions to hide
the folk traditions’ Romanian origins. For example, the national folk costume
was changed to replace the Romanian opinca, a traditional moccasin, with
the Russian boot. An ancient folk ballad, the Miorita, holds special
significance in Moldovan folk culture. Folk traditions such as ceramics and
weaving continue to be practiced in rural areas.
IV | ECONOMY |
Moldova’s rich black soil makes agriculture
the foundation of its economy. When Moldova was part of the USSR, Soviet central
planners made its primary role one of supplying food products to the rest of the
Soviet Union. The Moldovan economy suffered from the disruption of trading
relationships following the breakup of the USSR. The conflict in the
Trans-Dniester region greatly compounded the economic turmoil. Moldova’s light
industry, which is highly dependent on trade outside the republic, suffered the
most. Moldova has survived many of the most severe hardships of its
transformation to a free-market economy; however, the country’s economic
vitality remains highly dependent upon the size of its crop harvest. The gross
domestic product (GDP), which measures the value of goods and service produced,
was $3.4 billion in 2006.
With assistance from the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) and other international organizations, Moldova initiated
widespread privatization and strict monetary controls soon after independence.
The policies contained inflation—which had resulted in prices increasing by as
much as 20 times annually in the early 1990s—to one of the lowest rates in the
former Soviet republics. To privatize housing and industry, the government
issued vouchers to residents based on the number of years they had worked for
state enterprises. Residents exchanged the vouchers for ownership shares in
enterprises or for housing. By 1997 the majority of former state enterprises
were in private hands. Moldova was among the first of the former Soviet
republics to allow private ownership of farmland.
Moldova’s economy is built upon agriculture,
which contributed 18 percent of GDP in 2006. The country’s extremely fertile
land and temperate climate allow for the cultivation of a variety of crops.
Moldova is a leading producer of grapes, tobacco, and rose oil. Other crops
include wheat; maize; vegetables, such as tomatoes and potatoes; sugar beets;
and fruit. Livestock raising, particularly pigs, and milk production are also
important.
Industry, which accounted for 15 percent of
GDP in 2006, is dominated by food processing. The country has traditionally
specialized in frozen and canned vegetables. It is also well known for sparkling
wines and brandy produced from its grape harvest. Other industries use locally
grown sunflowers and soybeans to make vegetable oil, and beets to process raw
sugar. During the Soviet era, manufacturing plants were developed to produce
military equipment and consumer goods, and Moldova remains a significant
producer of carpets, refrigerators and freezers, washing machines, and
televisions. Moldova also has a metal-refining industry, almost entirely
dependent upon imported raw materials and fuels. More than one-quarter of
Moldova’s industrial plants are in the disputed Trans-Dniester region.
While Moldova has small oil and natural gas
reserves, it must import most of its fuels from Russia. Fuel payments are a
constant drain on the country’s economy. In 2003, 88 percent of its electricity
was produced in thermal plants burning fossil fuels; the remainder was produced
in a single hydroelectric facility on the Dniester River.
Moldova’s principal trading relationships are
with other former Soviet republics, chiefly Russia and Ukraine. Trade with
countries to the west is increasing, led by exchanges with Romania and Germany.
Food and agricultural products account for about one-half of exports, while the
leading imports are fuel, electricity, and mineral products.
Moldova used the Russian ruble as its legal
tender until November 1993, when it introduced its own currency, the leu
(plural lei; 13.10 lei equal U.S.$1; 2006 average).
V | GOVERNMENT |
Moldova ratified a new constitution in 1994 to
replace the one of the Soviet period. The constitution confirmed Moldova’s
status as an independent and democratic republic. It guarantees that all
citizens aged 18 and older may vote and provides for various other civil rights
and freedoms.
The president of Moldova is head of state. The
president is elected by the Parliament to a four-year term and may serve no more
than two consecutive terms. Before 2000 the president was directly elected. The
president nominates the prime minister and, upon his or her recommendation, the
cabinet. The prime minister and the cabinet must be approved by the Parliament.
The president is empowered to dissolve the Parliament. The constitution provides
that the president may be impeached for criminal or constitutional
offenses.
The Parliament (Parlamentul) is the
supreme legislative body of Moldova. A unicameral (single-chamber) assembly, it
consists of 101 deputies, who are directly elected for four-year terms. The
Parliament convenes for two ordinary sessions per year and may hold
extraordinary sessions as well. In addition to enacting laws and performing
other basic legislative functions, the Parliament is empowered to declare a
state of emergency, martial law, and war.
Moldova’s judicial system includes the Supreme
Court of Justice (the country’s highest court), the Court of Appeal, and the
Constitutional Court. Tribunals and courts of law adjudicate at the local level.
There is also a Higher Magistrates’ Council, which is composed of 11 magistrates
who serve for a period of five years. The council acts to ensure the
appointment, transfer, and promotion of judges. The president of Moldova
appoints judges to the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Justice after
the Higher Magistrates’ Council makes its recommendations. The judges are
initially appointed for five-year terms; their terms may then be renewed for a
period of ten years, after which they may continue to serve until they reach
retirement age. The Constitutional Court is the supreme authority on
constitutional matters; its decisions are not subject to appeal. It is composed
of six judges—two chosen by the president, two by the Parliament, and two by the
Higher Magistrates’ Council—who each serve for six years.
For purposes of local government, Moldova is
divided into 38 districts, 1 autonomous region (Gagauz-Eri), and 10 urban
municipalities (including Chişinău). The municipalities are administered
separately from the districts. All of the local jurisdictions are governed by
locally elected councils. The prefects and mayors of districts and
municipalities are appointed by Moldova’s president after being nominated by the
local councils.
The 1994 constitution included a provision to
give the Gagauz and Trans-Dniester regions autonomous status, although the terms
of self-governance were to be determined through later negotiations. Revision of
this special status would require a three-fifths vote of the Parliament. In
December of that year, the Moldovan Parliament passed the Law on the Special
Status of Gagauz-Eri. Ratified by a local election in the Gagauz region in March
1995, the law allows Gagauz-Eri substantial autonomy, while keeping foreign
policy, defense, and monetary issues in the hands of the Moldovan government.
The Moldovan government and leadership in the Trans-Dniester region have yet to
reach a settlement on Trans-Dniester’s official status.
Moldova has many political parties. The
Moldovan Party of Communists (formerly the Communist Party of Moldova), the
Democratic Moldova Bloc, and the Christian Democratic People’s Party are
represented in Parliament. The Party of Communists, which holds a majority of
seats, used to be a pro-Russian party but now advocates closer ties with the
European Union (EU). The Democratic Moldova Bloc is a centrist alliance of the
Our Moldova Alliance, the Social Liberty Party, and the Democratic Party; it
wants closer ties with both Russia and the West. The right-centrist Christian
Democratic People’s Party supports closer ties with neighboring Romania.
During the Soviet period, all armed forces
were part of a centralized security system. After Moldova gained independence
from the USSR, the government of the republic began to create a national defense
force. In 2004 Moldova’s armed forces numbered 6,750 personnel; most were in the
army, with 1,040 in the air force. In addition, Moldova has a paramilitary force
of about 2,500 (attached to the Ministry of the Interior) and a riot police
force of 900. Military service is compulsory for 18-year-old males for up to 18
months. The 1994 constitution established Moldova as a permanently neutral
state.
Moldova is a member of the United Nations
(UN), the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Partnership for Peace program of
the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and the Council of Europe
(CE).
VI | HISTORY |
For most of its history, the majority of the
territory that constitutes present-day Moldova was the region of Bessarabia, the
eastern half of the historic principality of Moldavia. The name
Bessarabia derives from a medieval prince, Basarab I, who at one time
ruled the southern part of the region. The principality of Moldavia encompassed
Bessarabia but extended west to the Siret River near the Carpathian Mountains.
From north to south it stretched from the region of Bukovina to the Black Sea.
Along with the principality of Walachia to the southwest, Moldavia was one of
two principal regions inhabited by Romanian-speaking peoples (sometimes known as
Vlachs).
In the mid-13th century Hungarian expansion
had driven many Vlachs to settle south and east of the Carpathian Mountains.
Legend suggests that in the 14th century Prince Dragos of Transylvania (then a
Hungarian province) founded Moldavia and named it after a small mountain stream
that his forces crossed upon entering the area. In about 1359 Bogdan I ruled the
first independent Moldavian principality described in historical records.
Moldavia was bordered to the southwest by Walachia, a feudal state that Basarab
had unified in about 1310. Poland and Hungary lay to Moldavia’s north, often
exerting some control over Moldavian princes. The Moldavians had to defend their
eastern border against the Tatars and their southern border against the Ottoman
Empire. During the late 15th century Moldavia came under increasing pressure
from the Ottomans. Despite military victories by Stephen the Great, who ruled
from 1457 to 1504, Moldavia ultimately succumbed and had to submit to the rule
of the Ottoman Empire.
In 1599 Michael the Brave, a Walachian
prince, led a revolt against the Ottomans and united Moldavia, Walachia, and
Transylvania (a third principality where Romanian speakers lived). However,
following Michael’s assassination in 1601, the previous divisions reappeared,
with the Ottomans regaining control of Moldavia and Walachia and Hungary taking
Transylvania. The differentiation between the eastern and western parts of
Moldavia, with the eastern half often identified as Bessarabia, began around
this time.
Russia annexed the region of Bessarabia after
the Russo-Turkish War of 1806-1812 as part of the Treaty of Bucharest, leaving a
greatly reduced Moldavia still under Ottoman domination. The Ottomans gradually
relinquished control of Moldavia to Russia as well. With Russia’s defeat in the
Crimean War (1853-1856), Moldavia and southern Bessarabia gained independence
from the Ottoman Empire and Russia, and the two regions joined again. Moldavia
united with independent Walachia in 1859, when assemblies of both principalities
elected a single leader, Alexandru Ion Cuza, as their prince. The united
principalities assumed the name Romania in 1862.
Romania’s territorial integrity did not last
long. In 1878 Russia regained southern Bessarabia, and the region remained part
of the Russian Empire until the Russian Revolution of 1917. In March 1918,
toward the end of World War I, the legislature of Bessarabia voted in favor of
unification with Romania. At the Paris Peace Conference of 1920, the United
States, France, Britain, and other Western countries officially recognized
Bessarabia’s incorporation into Romania.
A | Soviet Period |
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
(USSR), which was founded in 1922 under Russian leadership, did not accept the
unification of Bessarabia with Romania. In 1924 Soviet authorities established
the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (ASSR) east of the Dniester
River, within the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR). The Soviet
government used the Moldavian ASSR as a base for agitation to pressure
Bessarabia to reunify with the USSR. The Ukrainian town of Balta was the capital
of the Moldavian ASSR until 1929, when the capital was transferred to
Tiraspol.
In August 1939, shortly before the outbreak
of World War II, the USSR acquired Bessarabia as a result of the German-Soviet
Nonaggression Pact, which divided Central and Eastern Europe into German and
Soviet spheres of influence. Soviet forces occupied Bessarabia in June 1940. In
August the Soviet government proclaimed the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic
(SSR) and abolished the Moldavian ASSR. The new Moldavian republic included the
central portion of Bessarabia and the Trans-Dniester region, a narrow slice of
territory east of the Dniester River that had been part of the Moldavian ASSR.
Chişinău (Russian Kishinev) was named the capital of the new republic.
The remainder of Bessarabia, including its southern section that bordered the
Black Sea, was merged into the Ukrainian SSR. In 1941 Romania, an ally of Nazi
Germany, declared war on the USSR and reclaimed Bessarabia with German military
assistance. Soviet forces reoccupied the territory in 1944 and formally
reestablished the Moldavian SSR.
After World War II, Soviet policy in the
Moldavian SSR was devoted to integrating the republic’s economy, politics, and
culture into the Soviet Union. Private ownership of land was abolished, and the
state established collective and state farms on expropriated farmland. The
Moldavian SSR remained predominantly rural throughout the Soviet period,
although new industries were introduced in urban areas. Russians, who were
officially encouraged to settle in the republic, became the predominant ethnic
group in the cities. Although no official language was ever named in the
republic, Russian was the preferred language in government, business, and
education. The Soviet government attempted to negate the Moldavian SSR’s
cultural ties with Romania. This was most evident in the Soviet language policy,
which maintained that the language of ethnic Moldovans was entirely separate
from the Romanian language. To reinforce this idea, the Soviets mandated that
the Moldovan language switch from the Latin to the Cyrillic alphabet.
The Communist Party of Moldavia (CPM), a
branch of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), was the only party
legally allowed to function in the republic. Two future leaders of the USSR,
Leonid Brezhnev and Konstantin Chernenko, held prominent positions in the CPM
during the early part of their careers; neither of the two leaders were ethnic
Moldovans. Brezhnev served as first secretary (leader) of the CPM from 1950 to
1952, and Chernenko was head of the party’s propaganda department from 1948 to
1956. After Brezhnev’s term, the leadership of the CPM was given over to ethnic
Moldovans, who faithfully followed the official course set by the CPSU. The
Moldavian SSR was among the more conservative republics of the USSR.
In the mid-1980s Soviet leader Mikhail
Gorbachev introduced political and economic reforms that fostered the formation
of quasi-political groups in the USSR. In the Moldavian SSR, several such groups
emerged in the late 1980s but were denied legal status. In May 1989 these groups
allied to form the Popular Front of Moldova (PFM). In June an estimated 70,000
people attended an anti-Soviet demonstration organized by the PFM. This was
followed by large demonstrations in Chişinău in support of a government proposal
to make Romanian the official language. A majority of the Ukrainians, Russians,
and other ethnic minorities in the republic opposed the proposal, which was
amended as a result. Under pressure from the PFM, the republic’s Supreme Soviet
(legislature) in August 1989 declared Romanian the official language of
Moldavia. Russian was to remain the language of interethnic communication.
In the Trans-Dniester region, where
Russians and Ukrainians make up slightly more than half of the population, the
local authorities refused to enact the new language law. A political movement
called Yedinstvo (Russian for “unity”), which was growing in several
Soviet republics facing nationalist upheaval, formed in Moldavia to represent
the interests of the republic’s Slavic minorities. Yedinstvo was particularly
strong in Trans-Dniester. In January 1990 voters approved a local referendum
advocating greater autonomy for the Trans-Dniester region. Tensions developed
between ethnic Moldovans and the Russian speakers in Trans-Dniester and the
Gagauz people in southern Moldavia. The tensions eventually escalated into
secessionist movements in the eastern and southern portions of the republic. The
Gagauz people in the south declared a separate Gagauz SSR in August, which was
followed by a similar declaration in the Trans-Dniester region in September.
Although the Moldavian Supreme Soviet annulled the declarations immediately, the
two regions proceeded to hold local elections for their own newly created
legislatures. Negotiations were held in Moscow in November, but the two
secessionist groups and the Moldavian government failed to resolve the
crisis.
Meanwhile, elections to the Moldavian
Supreme Soviet took place in February 1990. Parties other than the CPM were not
allowed to publicly support candidates in the election, although a number of
independent candidates were openly sympathetic to the aims of the PFM. The new
Supreme Soviet elected Mircea Snegur, a reform-oriented CPM member, as its
chairperson. (Snegur became the first president of the republic in September,
after that post was created.) Like many other reform-oriented ethnic Moldovan
Communist leaders, Snegur shifted loyalty to the PFM as the strength of
opposition to the Soviet regime grew. In June the Supreme Soviet changed the
republic’s name from the Moldavian SSR to the Soviet Socialist Republic of
Moldova. In the first major step toward secession from the USSR, the Supreme
Soviet adopted a declaration of sovereignty later that month. The legislature
also declared the Soviet Union’s annexation of Bessarabia in 1940 to have been
illegal.
On May 23, 1991, the SSR of Moldova changed
its name to the Republic of Moldova, and the Supreme Soviet was renamed the
Parliament. On August 27, following a failed coup against Soviet leader Mikhail
Gorbachev in Moscow led by Communist hardliners, Moldova declared its
independence from the USSR. The Moldovan parliament banned the CPM, CPM members
became members of the PFM, and the PFM officially took control of government. In
December Moldova held direct presidential elections, and Snegur was elected
unopposed. Also that month, Moldova joined the Commonwealth of Independent
States (CIS), a loose organization of former Soviet republics, amid the USSR’s
disintegration into 15 successor states.
B | Moldova Since Independence |
When Moldova became independent from the
USSR, the PFM-led government under Prime Minister Mircea Druc began to advocate
Moldova’s unification with Romania. Sporadic conflict occurred in the
Trans-Dniester area in late 1991, as the secessionists consolidated control over
the region. In early 1992 President Snegur authorized military action against
the rebels. The secessionists, aided by a Russian Cossack contingent and the
Russian army forces stationed in the region, retained control over the disputed
area. In July a cease-fire agreement was reached, and a combined peacekeeping
force of Russian, Moldovan, and Trans-Dniestrian troops was deployed in the
region.
In June 1992, meanwhile, the PFM-dominated
Council of Ministers resigned. The PFM, which had renamed itself the Christian
Democratic Popular Front, had lost popular support for its policies advocating
unification with Romania. Failed domestic initiatives also had eroded the
party’s support. By August a new government was formed. It was led by the
Agrarian Democratic Party (ADP)—composed mostly of former Communists—which
opposed unification with Romania. President Snegur, who allied himself with the
ADP, strongly supported this stance. The ADP favored closer relations with
Russia and the other members of the CIS.
In February 1994 Moldova held its first
multiparty elections to the Parliament. The ADP won the largest number of seats.
A bloc of socialist parties won the next largest number. In April the
legislature cemented Moldova’s status within the CIS by ratifying the 1991
agreement that established the organization. However, Moldova declared that it
would not take part in CIS military or monetary alliances.
In July 1994 Moldova adopted its first
post-Soviet constitution. The constitution reaffirmed Moldova’s status as an
independent political and cultural unit and included provisions for the autonomy
of the breakaway regions of Gagauz and Trans-Dniester. It also referred to the
country’s official language as Moldovan, rather than Romanian. The Gagauz
leadership and the Moldovan government quickly reached an agreement under which
the Gagauz region was to enjoy broad powers of self-administration. Meanwhile,
Snegur refused to meet the Trans-Dniester secessionists’ demands for recognition
of Trans-Dniester as an independent state, and the dispute continued in that
region. Also in 1994, the government reached an agreement with Russia to remove
all Russian troops from the Trans-Dniester region within three years.
In December 1996 Moldova held its first
multi-candidate presidential elections. Snegur, who had formed his own party,
the Party of Rebirth and Conciliation of Moldova, resumed a pro-Romanian
position and campaigned for more rapid reform. He was defeated in the elections
by Petru Lucinschi, a former leader of the Communist Party of Moldova. Lucinschi
advocated closer ties with Russia and pledged to work to resolve the
Trans-Dniester issue. He also argued for more efficient government and less
corruption.
B1 | Status of Trans-Dniester |
Negotiations between the Moldovan
government and the Trans-Dniester leadership, which had been frozen since
mid-1996, resumed in 1997. In early May both sides signed a memorandum calling
for the peaceful settlement of their conflict. According to the agreement, which
was mediated by Russia, Moldova was to retain its present borders, including
Trans-Dniester. The document envisioned a large degree of autonomy for
Trans-Dniester and called for future talks to determine the official status of
the region. Since then, ongoing negotiations have failed to achieve a mutually
acceptable settlement. The complete removal of remaining Russian troops from
Trans-Dniester has been halted several times, despite deadlines set in
internationally mediated negotiations in 1999 and 2002. Russia announced in 2004
that it would complete the withdrawal only when a final agreement was reached.
In 2006 voters in Trans-Dniester
approved a referendum calling for independence from Moldova and eventual union
with Russia. The referendum won by the overwhelming margin of 97 percent. The
vote was expected to have little practical effect, however, as no outside
country recognizes the region’s independence and Russia has indicated little
interest in a union.
B2 | Recent Elections |
In parliamentary elections in March
1998, the reestablished Communist Party (renamed the Moldovan Party of
Communists) won the largest number of seats. However, the party did not have a
majority, and a coalition of parties, led by the centrist Bloc for a Democratic
and Prosperous Moldova and the reformist Democratic Convention, formed a ruling
majority. Ion Ciubuc was appointed prime minister that month. In February 1999
Ciubuc resigned, saying that parliament and the ruling coalition stymied his
efforts at market reforms. The parliament appointed Ion Sturza to replace Ciubuc
in March.
A power struggle between parliamentary
deputies and President Lucinschi ended in 2000 when the Parliament voted to
abolish direct presidential elections. However, in December 2000 the Parliament
failed four times to elect a new president, so Lucinschi dissolved the
Parliament and scheduled parliamentary elections for February 2001. In the
elections the Party of Communists won 71 of the 101 seats. In April 2001 the
Parliament elected the party’s leader, Vladimir Voronin, as president. In the
2005 parliamentary elections the Party of Communists retained its majority,
winning 56 seats. Opposition parties gained some ground, with 34 seats going to
the centrist Democratic Moldova Bloc and 11 seats to the right-centrist
Christian Democratic People’s Party.
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