The Governments in Bucharest and in Chisinau in the name of the people should adopt the act on the recognition of the unification of 1918, the chairman of the National Union Council Alexandru Arsene, stated in a public debate hosted by IPN. He noted that the period during which Bessarabia formed part of Greater Romania was marked by political and economic transformations with beneficial effects on the population.

Among the main objectives of the Paris Peace Conference that started on January 18, 1919 was the international recognition of the newly formed or reintegrated states following the disappearance of the Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman and Tsarist Empires. The moment was favorable for recognizing the Union of 1918, said the doctor habilitate of constitutional law Alexandru Arsene.

“At the Paris Peace Conference after World War I, the right of each nation to form a state was recognized. The problem was that any empire, even if they stated that they became democratic, longed for foreign territories. That’s why Russia was, is and will be like a locust, eager to conquer. That period saw the passing from the right of the force to the force of the right. In those circumstances, her majesty Queen Marie told the Prime Minister of the French Government who chaired the Congress in Paris: Here is the reunified Romanian nation,” stated Alexandru Arsene.

He said that while Bessarabia formed part of Greater Romania during the 22 years, it saw enormous social, cultural and economic progress. The agrarian reform led to a development in rural economy, while the opening of schools led to the gradual eradication of analphabetism. The Soviet occupation Bessarabia in 1940 was a barbaric act generated by the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact. The obligation of the governments in Bucharest and in Chisinau is to restore the historical truth.

“Two regimes were installed - in 1917 in Moscow and in 1933 in Berlin, and the struggle for re-division and revenge started then. June 28, 1940 came. The pact of August 23, 1939 was declared null and void, including by Germany and the Soviet Union. After the nullification of this pact, we are a country. We hope to persuade the current governments in Chisinau and in Bucharest in the name of the people to sit and adopt the act on the recognition of the unification of 1918 and peace will be this way restored and there will be security guarantees both in the reintegrated Romania and also for Ukraine,” noted Alexandru Arsene.

The public debate entitled “Great Union of 1918: lessons for past, present and future” was the24th installment of IPN’s project “Impact of the Past on Confidence and Peace Building Processes” that is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation of Germany.