[Info-Prim Neo Series “Moldova-20! Whereto?” at the end] [Each of the 20 years of independence in Moldova has its meaning and role in what happened in the period and, undoubtedly, in what is going to happen in the country and the people’s lives in the future. Over a period of time, Info-Prim Neo Agency asked personalities from different fields to pronounce on the main events that took place during a certain year. There were collected 20 different opinions. Now, at the end, we selected the most important features of every interview and put them together. Below is an integral and concise picture of Moldova’s independence 20 years after its proclamation.] [The first Prime Minister of independent Moldova Valeriu Muravschi] said the proclamation of independence in 1991 was a historical event, awaited by people since 1812. It allowed starting vast political, economic and social reforms, including the instatement of the rule of law and guaranteeing of the people’s rights and freedoms. [According to political analyst and program director at the Public Policy Institute Oazu Nantoi], the Moscow Putsch of August 1991 was the final blow to the idea of maintaining the USSR, even as an independent community. However, the collapse of the USSR aggravated the situation in Moldova’s eastern districts. The regime created on the left bank of the Nistru decided to take a more radical path and was backed by Russia. [Nicolae Andronic, former Deputy Speaker and former First Deputy Prime Minister], said that the main problem of Moldova in 1993 was joining the influential pan-European bodies. [Constitutional law expert Vitali Catana] thinks the adoption of the Constitution was the main event of 1994, as this act defines a country, and this proves its huge significance. [Historian and politician Victor Stepaniuc] thinks that several events that strengthened the foundations of Moldovan legislation took place in 1995. There were adopted Moldova’s foreign policy strategy, the Law on Education and the Broadcasting Code, which had a positive impact on Moldova’s development and democracy. [Political analyst Ion Tabarta] says the main political event of 1996 was the presidential elections. The ballot was preceded by conflicts between the formal political-juridical institutions established by the 1994 Constitution and the personal political institutions created around the main leaders of Moldova. [According to the Central Election Commission chairman Iurie Ciocan], there were several important events in 1997, but that year will be remembered because of two main events: adoption of the Election Code and ratification of the European Charter of Local Self-Government. [Ex-MP Ion Neagu] considers that 1998 was first of all marked by the parliamentary elections that took place in spring as they ended the rule of the agrarians. “A light at the end of the channel emerged for Moldova then. There appeared the first possibilities of determinedly following the path to democracy, reforms and European integration after 1994. [Executive director of the Foreign Policy Association Victor Chirila] said the decision of the OSCE Istanbul Summit of 1999 to demand that Russia fully and unconditionally withdraw its armament stored in Moldova’s Eastern region had a major impact on the subsequent decade of Moldova’s independence. [Parliamentary and constitutional law expert Corneliu Gurin] said the year 2000 marked the end of the 20th century and a new stage in the political history of Moldova. The events of the given year and the previous events led to the existence of a ‘one-party government’ - by the Communist Party - in Moldova in the immediate period. The PCRM had held a parliamentary majority during the next eight years. [According to politician Mihai Godea], the year 2001 can be considered the apogee of economic reforms, of a very difficult economic recovery process, when things started to return to normality. Unfortunately. the politicians of 2001 self-isolated themselves into a sphere of chamber political struggles. [Corina Fusu, vice president of the Liberal Party], said the important events of 2002 centered around the protests staged by the journalists of Teleradio-Moldova Company (TRM). [Vice president of the PLDM Valeriu Strelet] said the adoption of the Penal Code and the Civil Code and the amendments made to the Labor Code in 2003 confirmed that the Communist government, after a long period of uncertainty that it needed to realize the responsibility borne when having full power, started to deal with the situation in a responsible manner, getting rid of the slogans of the 2001 campaign about Moldova’s inclusion in the Russia-Belarus Union, the settlement of the Transnistrian dispute during a year, etc. [CReDO director Sergiu Ostaf] said the creation of the Democratic Moldova Bloc in 2004 contributed to strengthening political forces’ doctrines. An economic growth was recorded for the fourth year in a row. The political sector yet saw confrontations and stagnation, while the democratic institutions witnessed lack of progress. [Audit Office chairman Serafim Urecheanu, former mayor of Chisinau and Member of Parliament], said that 2005 was the year when the democratic forces of Moldova started to win more votes in elections. The Democratic Moldova Bloc entered Parliament with 34 seats and if a number of things hadn’t happened, the democratic forces would have had all the chances to start demolishing communism. [According to politologist and political analyst Victor Gurau], 2006 was a crucial year for Moldova and the Communist government as regards the strengthening of the political and social effort of the national political elites on the path to European integration. [Political analyst Viorel Cibotaru] said 2007 was a year of transition as the June 3 local elections changed the spirits in society and the atmosphere following the appearance of new players on the arena. [According to the Constitutional Court judge Alexandru Tanase], 2008 was marked by preelectoral fever. Though the parliamentary elections took place in the spring of 2009, 2008 was a preeectoral year, when two new players appeared on the Moldovan political arena in 2008 – PL and PLDM. [Lawyer and ex-politician Vitalie Nagacevschi] considers that the most important events of 2009 took place on April 7 and afterward. After the April 2009 events, the Republic of Moldova had the chance to return to normality, but it missed it. [According to political analyst Anatol Taranu], the early parliamentary elections were the main even of 2010 as their outcome confirmed that the parties of the Alliance for European Integration had supremacy in the political life in Moldova. [Valeriu Vasilica, director of the News Agency Info-Prim Neo], said 2011 was and is the Year on the Razor’s Edge. It confirmed, possibly more than other years, that Moldova was in a state of oscillation within the system of coordinates typical of a state and society: between the past and the future, the East and the West, the new and the old, stability and instability, etc. It happened even if the April 2009 events and the inertia of 2010 seemed to incline the balance towards a certain side. [Dumitrita Ciuvaga, Info-Prim Neo]