Carrying flags and placards with unionistic messages, members of the public association “Honor, Dignity and Motherland” (ODIP) and its supporters on December 1 marched on the streets of Chisinau to celebrate the National Day of Romania. The young participants carried a huge tricolor and sang patriotic songs, marching from the square of the Romanian-French Theoretical Lyceum “Gheorghe Asachi” to the Monument to Ruler Stephan the Great and Holy, IPN reports.

ODIP head Vlad Biletski said that December 1 is a special day as today it is 97 years of the Great Union and today the Romanians from the Republic of Moldova seek Union because this is the only way of securing a better future. Now more than ever we must show national unity and seek justice for the Bessarabian people.

The association’s deputy head Corina Bezer said that by this event they celebrate 97 years of the Great Union. They aimed to create an atmosphere where the people feel like the Romanians and see the love for the homeland Romania. “We want to convey the message that the Romanians from Chisinau and all over Moldova feel like the Romanians, love the Romanian language and want to be near the motherland Romania,” she stated.

“We want very much the two Romanian states to unite and become again a single people because we have the same language and traditions and the same Romanian blood,” said Mia Bucatar, ODIP volunteer.

The march ended at the Embassy of Romania, where the participants sang Romania’s national anthem “Wake up, Romanian”.