The draft empowers the Romanian Government to start “urgently, immediately” negotiations with the Chisinau authorities for “finalizing the union with the Republic of Moldova”.
Romania’s lower chamber of deputies has tacitly adopted a draft proposal to “urgently and immediately” start negotiations to unite with neighboring Moldova.
There was no debate and no vote, but the procedure was legal. The legislative initiative was submitted to parliament mid-April and adopted 45 days later, on Wednesday.
S.O.S. Romania, a nationalist party which has pro-Russian views, made the proposal, which is known to have the support of Romanian President Nicusor Dan and Moldovan President Maia Sandu.
Moldova is in accession talks to join the EU and leaders of the bloc on Monday promised that the country’s future “is within the European Union” following a summit in Brussels where both sides vowed to accelerate talks on the country joining the bloc.
Russia and almost half of Moldovans are opposed to unification which comes as Moldova, a country of 2.4 million that lies between Ukraine and NATO and EU member Romania, battles claims of Russian meddling in internal affairs and fears about a spillover from the war in Ukraine.
The Romanian bill now goes to the Senate, which is the decision-making body.
The government, and the Legal Committee and the Human Rights Commission of the Chamber of Deputies issued negative opinions after the bill was submitted.
However, in the absence of a debate and vote in the lower chamber, the draft was considered tacitly adopted, in accordance with the Constitution.
According to the bill, Romania’s Parliament would decide on the union of Romania with the Republic of Moldova. The two countries were separated in 1940 under the terms of a Nazi-Soviet Pact and Moldova became part of the Soviet Union before declaring independence in 1991.
Former Moldovan President Igor Dodon criticized the development accusing Bucharest of acting in “an imperialistic way which risks rifts between the countries.”
There was no immediate reaction to the bill from the Moldovan government which supports union, but it is a more delicate issue with the population.
Recent polls show about 42% of Moldovans support unification, while roughly 47% oppose it.
Support has been steadily growing due to regional security concerns. A third of Moldova’s population already hold Romanian citizenship.
The draft provides for the reaffirmation of the attachment to the provisions of the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) in Helsinki, which allows for the peaceful and diplomatic modification of borders.
According to the legislative proposal, after the law is adopted, the relevant international authorities, the Moldovan Government, the U.S., NATO, the UN and the European Union would be notified.
