aici - Asociatia Tinerilor Istorici din Moldova

the dividing of areas of influence with a State which
exercised the supremacy on the European continent,
through secret agreements concluded by Russia. The
difference is related to the fact that in 1812 the Erfurt
Convention was obsolete/ decaying, France insisting
that Turkey would not cede anything from Moldovan
territory (at that moment England pressed on Turkey
to conclude as soon as possible the Peace treaty with
Russia, in order to take back its forces and be able to
resist to the army of Napoleon), while Soviet-German
non-aggression treaty was in force in 1940 and
Germany forced itself the Government from Bucharest
to cede Bessarabia.
Despite the efforts of estranging the province
(from 1812 to 1918, through repression, colonization,
assimilation, deportations, organized starvation
etc.), autochthonous population of Bessarabia has
resisted and has kept the language and culture of the
ancestors. The proclamation on 2 December 1917 of
the Moldovan Democratic Republic within Russia,
then proclamation on 24 January 1918 of the independent
Moldavian Democratic Republic and finally,
voting by Sfatul Ţării on 27 March 1918 the union
of the Moldovan Democratic Republic with Romania
(Romania at that time was, in fact, the Western
Moldova from Carpathians and Prut, so it was the
union of the Oriental Moldova, between the Prut
and Dniester, with the Western Moldova, between
the Prut and the Carpathians) meant the solving of the
problem of Bessarabia. The Union was recognized by
the United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Japan, which
signed on 28 October 1920 in Paris a treaty or protocol
with Romania regarding Bessarabia (they recognized
the sovereignty of Romania over Bessarabia; Japan has
not ratified the Treaty because, through a secret agreement,
undertook not to do so, because of an arrangement
with the USSR on Sakhalin Island). Re-occupation
and re-annexation of Bessarabia, on 28 June
1940, by the Soviet Union meant the re-emergence
of the question of Bessarabia, which putted it again
on the wallpaper. If we consider the idea that solving
the problem of Bessarabia means bringing together
the two parts of the old Principality of Moldavia (the
Western Moldova, between Carpathians and Prut
River with the Eastern Moldova – between Prut and
Dniester rivers) in the borders of a State, we can affirm
that this problem has not been solved so far. Part of
the problem of Bessarabia is currently the presence of
the Russian Army (the remnants of the 14th army) in
the city of Bender and in six villages in Eastern Bessarabia:
Proteagailovca, Gâsca, Merenești, Chiţcani,
Cremenciug, Zahorna. The units of the Russian army
are both in the fortress of Bender and within the range
of the city.
In 1812 the issue of Bessarabia has emerged as a
geopolitical problem, involving some of the influential
states in Europe of that period of time. Currently,
the problem can be solved within the European and
international geopolitical context, involving the EU
and the USA. Today the issue of Bessarabia regards
the fact that the Republic of Moldova still is in the area
of influence of the Russian Federation (and the fact of
the presence of the Russian army in the Bessarabian
city of Bender), and its solving means the country’s
accession to the European Union, namely the entry
in the area of the European civilization. Whereas the
Republic of Moldova is a member of the CIS, and it is
not a member of the EU and NATO, as opposed to the
Baltic ex-Soviet republics, it is part of the close vicinity
or immediate neighbourhood, which, in the Russian
military doctrine, adopted in 1993, when Boris
Yeltsin was President and Pavel Grachev – Minister
of Defense, designated the area of influence of the
Russian Federation. In this area the Russian army “is
obliged to defend the 25 million ethnic Russians who
are outside the borders of the Russian Federation”.
The Baltic Republics, now under the umbrella of
NATO and in the EU, were able to become detached
from the close vicinity of the Russia’s geopolitical space
and influence. Detaching of the Republic of Moldova
from the Russian geopolitical area will take place
when there will be brought together two elements:
1) will and actions of the Moldavian political elite for
leaving the Russian sphere of influence and 2) support
from the EU and from the USA for such actions.
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