Romania is imposing the Romanianization of the Republic of Moldova, claims the (pro)Russian propaganda, which resumes a Soviet thesis intended to justify Russia's influence in the region.
NEWS: The political scientist claims that, for decades, [Romania] has spent large sums of money to promote "Romanianism" in Moldova.
To promote its ideology, Romania has offered grants, has funded Moldova’s Academy of Sciences and the Ministry of Education, writers, historians, musicians. For 30 years, a real brand has been created, political scientist and former MP Nicolae Pascaru told Sputnik Moldova.
"Romanianization has been achieved by falsifying history. It is hard to imagine how much money has been spent to change the memory of an entire Moldovan nation," said Pascaru.
NARRATIVE: Romania is imposing the Romanianization of the population of the Republic of Moldova.
PURPOSE: To delegitimize Romanian identity by presenting Romanianism as an artificial construct, imposed from the outside; to demonize Romania by portraying it as an aggressive state with territorial claims on the Republic of Moldova; to discredit Romania's support by insinuating that there’s a hidden agenda behind all the financial and cultural aid provided; to resuscitate Soviet theories by promoting the idea that the "Moldovan language" is different from the Romanian language; to mobilize pro-Russian and anti-Romanian groups by stimulating fears of a supposed "Romanian takeover"; to maintain the Russian influence by promoting the idea that Russia is protecting the Republic of Moldova from being "Romanianized".
LOCAL CONTEXT/ ETHOS: Romania is presented in the Russian media, but also by some politicians and media outlets from the Republic of Moldova, as a vindictive state, with territorial claims over the Republic of Moldova, and, in some cases, also over some regions in the south-east of Ukraine. These theses are used to reanimate the phobias related to Romania, promoted since the interwar period, especially among national minorities, but also to indirectly transform the Russian Federation into the force that could defend them from the "Romanian encroachment".
The same narrative often comes hand in hand with one repeatedly launched in Chisinau in the last two decades, according to which the Republic of Moldova is, in fact, the rightful successor of the medieval Moldavia.
The existence of two distinct peoples – the Moldovans and the Romanians, who speak two different languages, is a thesis strongly promoted by Soviet historiography. The USSR created a so-called autonomous republic on the left bank of the Dniestr , where Moldovanism was promoted and prepared the re-annexation of today's territory of the Republic of Moldova. The former president of Moldova, the communist Vladimir Voronin stated that “the Moldovan language is the mother of the Romanian language”. He also demanded rights for the “Moldovan minority” in Romania and promoted an organization of Moldovans in Romania.
WHY THE NARRATIVE IS FALSE: The current territory of the Republic of Moldova was always a part of the medieval Moldavia without ever having any special legal status within it. In 1812, following a controversial peace treaty between the Russian and Ottoman Empires, the territory was annexed by the Tsarist Empire. After the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, Bessarabia proclaimed its independence, and a few months later, on March 27, 1918, the State Council (legislative body) voted with a large majority to unite with Romania. In 1940, the Soviet Union reoccupied the territory, following an ultimatum sent to Bucharest, and created the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic. It proclaimed its independence in 1991, and Romania was the first state to recognize it.
The language spoken in the Republic of Moldova is Romanian, and this fact is recognized by prestigious scientific institutions, including the Academy of Sciences of Moldova and the Romanian Academy. The Academy of Sciences of Moldova stated as early as 1994 (so, without waiting for grants from Romania, as claimed by Sputnik) that the language spoken in the Republic of Moldova is Romanian . Over the years, this has been demonstrated by numerous studies and pieces of research, meant to debunk such false narratives and annihilate the effects of Soviet propaganda.
In 2013, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Moldova established that the official language of the state was Romanian, according to the Declaration of Independence of 1991, and in 2023, the Parliament included these provisions in the Constitution.
The current territory of the Republic of Moldova has not been Romanianized, but it used to be rather Russified. After the annexation of Bessarabia by the USSR in 1940, the Soviet regime banned the Romanian language based on the Latin alphabet, imposing the Cyrillic alphabet and promoting the idea of a "Moldovan language". Soviet school textbooks from the Moldavian SSR period supported the existence of a "Moldovan language" different from Romanian, although there’s no scientific basis for such a theory. In reality, that was a strategy of denationalization, and after independence, this policy was revised.
Romania has not "Romanianized" the Republic of Moldova. History and the linguistic and cultural reality have proven that Moldovans are part of the Romanian world. False narratives about "artificial Romanianization" are actually legacies of the Soviet and Russian propaganda, designed to maintain the division between Romanians on both banks of the Prut.
Romania has provided financial and logistical support to the Republic of Moldova in various fields, including culture and education. But it was not just that, as the author suggests. The most conclusive evidence is the non-refundable aid of 100 million euros each signed in 2010 and 2022. These were provided for infrastructure projects, including for Romanian-phobic localities such as those in the Gagauz autonomy.
GRAIN OF TRUTH: It is true that the last three population censuses, of 2004, 2014 and 2024, show a slight increase in citizens who self-identify as Romanian and a larger increase in those who declare that they speak the Romanian language. But this is the effect of the emergence of a new generation that is no longer educated in the spirit of Soviet propaganda, even if its effects, fueled by the current Kremlin propaganda and pro-Russian circles of influence in the Republic of Moldova, are still very strong.
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