Wow and must read.

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http://www.sublimeoblivion.com/2009/04/11/twitter-terror-moldova/

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I was thinking more about the Romania-Moldova reunion issue.

Offhand (will have to check) I don’t think there was much Moldovan opposition to Moldova being part of Romania during that period (between two world wars) – especially when compared to the situation of Ukrainians in Poland and Croats in Yugoslavia, at the same time in question.

Between the yay and nay reunion with Romania points of view among Moldovans, I sense there’s a sort of swing vote that can lean towards either of these two views. The determining factor being how Romania and Moldova each develop over the course of time. Like I said, for now, it’s an interesting topic – but not the lead point in relation to the Moldovan political situation.

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http://talk.guardian.co.uk/WebX?14@319.pvilfSOaFIf@.7760b692/1429

Apologies to Andy & co. I find subject matter like this one to be of analtyical interest.

For now, the issue of Romanian-Moldovan reunification should be understood as something that’s hypothetically interesting but distant.

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Excerpted from the above linked RFE/RL article:

“Former Moldovan President Petru Lucinski told RFE/RL’s Moldova Service that there is no need to look further to explain the unrest.

‘I see it as an unorganized youth movement,” Lucinski said. “On the 6th, it was OK, but on the 7th there were more people coming and they could not be controlled. They didn’t have any leaders. One part went in one direction, a peaceful one. And another part took a violent turn’.”

****

IMO, this is very plausible. It caught many by surprise. The Moldovan Communists, the organized political parties opposing Voronin, as well as the Western election monitors, who initially were content enough to declare the election as passable.

In the Orange Ukrainian and Rose Georgian situations, the street demonstrators were in sync with the political grouping opposed to the existing status quo. There was also a clearer case of Western based support for the Orange and Rose supporters.

For now, Romania seems to be a factor in terms of the stated political leanings of some of the protesting Moldovan youths and the support they receive from elements in Romania. It’s not out of the realm to believe that Voronin might be embellishing the degree of Romanian involvement. Then again, this issue brings up Romanian government versus non-Romanian government involvement from Romania. The latter is the diplomatically more acceptable. I sense the latter might be more of an actual issue. Then again government versus non-government involvement can get murky. This is sometimes intentional for the reason stated in sentence four of this paragraph.

I’ve caught some increased commentary on the idea of Moldova becoming part of Romania. Besides, the Moldovan Communists, I suspect there’re other Moldovan political elites who are apprehensive of becoming part of a larger entity – where they stand to lose clout. Slovakia’s elites opted out of Czechoslovakia with this in mind. Their Czech counterparts like Klaus agreed because they saw Slovakia as an economic albatross for the Czech Republic. This point might play into why some in Romania might not be so keen on having Moldova as part of Romania.

BTW, if Romania and Moldova were to reunite, Gagauzia can legally separate from Moldova. A Romanian-Moldovan reunification probably lessons the chance of Pridnestrovie coming together with Moldova.

Michael Averko´s last blog post..Barack Obama Panders To Muslims

Well, it is how it was played, certainly in the Ukraine.

And, you are right, it hasn’t stopped. Following the last couple of demos in Moldova and Georgia, it is a large part of the commentary. The promise of joining the cash-strapped West is currently not looking so attractive to some while others are rueing the loss of traditional markets and revenue . . even in terms of money sent home from Georgian expats in Russia.

These small economies need a foot in both camps to survive. You might even argue now that the Baltics and Poland would have fared better if they had been allowed this luxury. But it was all about ‘spheres of influence’ and stuff the peasants who actually lived there.

Feel free to shoot me down . . . I don’t understand much about Ukraine . . . but it looks like a country that has got very little out of playing off Mum against Dad. The question is whether it was actually put in this untenable position . . . like Georgia certainly was . . which unravels fairly fast the minute the economy goes south.

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Around the time of the so-called “Orange Revolution” and before Moldova’s last presidential election, Voronin shifted to what’s perceived as a more Westward leaning direction. Pro-Orange supporter Ruslana campaigned for Voronin.

In more recent times, he took a noticeably different route, as the Orange Ukrainian and Rose Georgian experiences have waned a bit.

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