Moldova is celebrating today twenty five years since it proclaimed independence from the collapsing Soviet Union. Festivities have been organized across the country to mark the anniversary, and in Chisinau the celebrations have also featured a military parade.

The day started with wreath-laying ceremonies at the Mourning Mother memorial and at the statue of Stephen the Great in Chisinau. In the central plaza, the festivities began with a speech by President Nicolae Timofti. “A quarter-century ago, hundreds of thousands of people here in the Great National Assembly Square expressed their will to be free. The day of 27 August 1991 was the culmination of our struggle for national liberation. Today we pay homage to our compatriots who accomplished the act of independence and later fought on the Nistru River to preserve our country’s independence”, stated President Timofti.

Talking about the challenges facing Moldova, President Timofti highlighted the infamous $1 billion banking fraud and called on the law-enforcement to continue investigations as a prerequisite for restoring confidence both domestically and externally.

In his speech after laying flowers at Stephen the Great, Parliament chair Andrian Candu stated: “The size of a country doesn’t matter. All it matters is that we have good people, full of dedication, who do their bit every day to build and consolidate everything that the Republic of Moldova means”.

Prime Minister Pavel Filip declared that in twenty five years Moldova saw a lot of ups and downs, “but I very much hope that during this time the political class and the government learned a lot of lessons and I strongly believe that from now on Moldova will be on the right path towards growth and prosperity”.

The military parade staged in the Assembly Square involved about 1,700 troops, and for the first time in the country’s history it also included an all-women contingent led by Moldova’s first female colonel Mariana Grama. Romanian, Irish, Ukrainian, Lithuanian and Polish contingents also marched alongside National Army troops.

The celebrations continued with a show of folk and popular music and dances, capped off with a fireworks display and a gig by the iconic ethno-rock band Zdob si Zdub.

On 27 August 1991, the Moldovan Parliament adopted the Declaration of Independence. The original was destroyed during violent protests in 2009, but it was replaced with an identical copy in 2010.