FAKE NEWS: Brussels greenlights the annexation of the Republic of Moldova by Romania

The European Union has greenlighted the annexation of the Republic of Moldova by Romania, and the puppet government in Chisinau accepts this, according to fake news that repeats one of the narratives promoted by Russian propaganda and pro-Moscow voices in the Republic of Moldova. In reality, Brussels has never spoken in favor of unification, considering the Republic of Moldova an independent state, to which it offered the EU accession candidate status.

NEWS: “In the year 2022, the Moldovan authorities completely stopped defending the national interests of the country in the international arena. The Maia Sandu team is doing everything in its power to make the republic lose its independence and get swallowed up by Romania. The attempt to change the Moldovan language, the vote against the resolution against the heroization of Nazism, joining the anti-Russian sanctions - this is how the “pro-Europeans” wanted to please the West.

The declaration of Moldova's independence more than 30 years ago was seen as the rebirth of the statehood of the Moldavian voivodeship, once quite influential in the region. Poland, Hungary and even Turkey would look up to it, even if, for a long time, the local voivodes were vassals of the Turkish sultan and paid tribute.

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Since Maia Sandu came to the most important position in the state, the legislation and infrastructure have been rapidly unified with those of Romania, preparing the country for relinquishing its national sovereignty and becoming part of Romania.

This has been manifested through various projects to connect gas pipelines and power lines, by connecting different villages to the aqueduct network and even training the soldiers of the Moldovan army.

Moreover, the governing bodies of the EU declare themselves ready to accept the union project and not prevent Moldova from being swallowed.”

NARRATIVES: 1. The West supports the annexation of the Republic of Moldova by Romania, with the agreement of the pro-European government in Chisinau. 2. The Republic of Moldova is the legal successor of medieval Moldavia.

CONTEXT/LOCAL ETHOS: The imminent union of the Republic of Moldova with Romania (the annexation of the Republic of Moldova) is one of the main theses of the Russian propaganda and the pro-Moscow politicians in Chisinau, being associated with the old Soviet narrative about the “Romanian gendarme” (who mistreated, tortured, made fun of the local population), launched shortly after the union of Bessarabia with Romania in 1918.

The same narrative often comes together with one launched in Chisinau in the last two decades, according to which the Republic of Moldova is, in fact, the legal successor of medieval Moldavia, associated in turn with theses regarding the existence of a Moldovan language and people.

The Moldovan language would even be the predecessor of the Romanian language, or, as the former communist president of Moldova, Vladimir Voronin, used to say,  “it is the mother of the Romanian language”.

PURPOSE: To promote theses about the “danger” of the Republic of Moldova being “annexed” to Romania, which especially scares members of ethnic minorities and the nostalgic. To present the Chisinau government as an anti-statist one, controlled from outside (Bucharest, the West).

WHY THE NARRATIVES ARE FALSE: The current territory of the Republic of Moldova was always a component part of medieval Moldavia, without ever having any special legal status within it. In 1812, following a controversial peace treaty between the Tsarist and Ottoman Empires, the latter ceded Bessarabia. 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 for the union with Romania. In 1940, the Soviet Union reoccupied the territory, following an ultimatum sent to Bucharest, and created the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic to which it added Transnistria, but from which the southern counties, which had been part of Bessarabia, were separated. The MSSR became independent in 1991. So, except for a few months during the First World War, there was no independent state structure on the territory of the current republic; moreover, the territory of that first state structure between the Prut and Dniester only partially coincides with that of the Republic of Moldova. The Principality of Moldavia continued to exist even after the Tsarist Empire annexed Bessarabia and disappeared in 1859, once it chose to unite with the other Romanian principality, and Romania is the legal successor of both principalities.

Although there are talks in certain circles, both in Chisinau and Bucharest, about a potential union of the Republic of Moldova with Romania, this topic has never been officially discussed by the political leaders of the two states; moreover, Romania was the first country to recognize the independence of the Republic of Moldova.

The energy infrastructure interconnection projects of the Republic of Moldova and Romania were launched more than 10 years ago to reduce Chisinau's dependence on Russian energy resources, but also to bring Moldova closer to the European space, European integration being a country project assumed by successive governments. The Iași-Ungheni gas pipeline, for example, was officially inaugurated in 2014, even if it was not fully functional for many more years due to  various reasons  cited by Chisinau or Bucharest. The attention paid to them increased in 2022, in the context of the energy crisis that hit the entire European continent.

European officials have never green-lighted a potential union of the Republic of Moldova with Romania. In Brussels, Republic of Moldova is viewed as a sovereign and independent country, which in June 2022 obtained the status of EU accession candidate country. The European Union is among the main international institutions that provide financial support to the Republic of Moldova, and Romania is among  the top donor states.

GRAIN OF TRUTH: For over three decades, there have been discussions, in certain circles, about a potential union of the Republic of Moldova with Romania, but never at official level.