Moldovan Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Moldova (Romanian: Declarația de independență a Republicii Moldova) was a document adopted on 27 August 1991 by the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova following the failure of the August coup attempt.
Background
The document claims "millennial history" and "uninterrupted statehood" within historic and ethnic borders and refers to the official language as "Romanian.".[1][2] This founding act of the Republic of Moldova is celebrated as the National Day or Independence Day.
The Republic of Moldova gained official recognition of statehood on 2 March 1992, by becoming a member of the United Nations.
The original document that was approved and signed by 278 parliamentary deputies in 1991 was burned during the 2009 Chișinău riots, but an identical document was restored in 2010.[3][4]
Controversy
The Moldovan Declaration of Independence clearly and directly claims Moldovan sovereignty over the territory of Transnistria as "a component part of the historical and ethnic territory of our people". However, the Moldovan Declaration of Independence is itself used as an argument against Moldovan sovereignty over Transnistria, as it declares "null and void" the agreement of 23 August 1939, between the government of the USSR and the government of Nazi Germany, which called for the annexation by the USSR of Bassarabia, then part of Romania. As a result of this annexation (which took place in 1940), the USSR created the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic (today's Moldova) by joining the newly conquered territory of Bassarabia with the existing Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (which roughly approximates the territory of today's Transnistria).
See also
- Independence Day (Republic of Moldova)
- Dissolution of the Soviet Union
- Disputed status of Transnistria
- Transnistrian Declaration of Independence