Country Council members that voted for Bessarabia’s Union with Romania commemorated in Chisinau

Members of the Country Council that voted in favor of the Union of Bessarabia with Romania on March 27, 1918 have been commemorated today in Chisinau, Info-Prim Neo reports. This morning, priests of the Bessarabian Metropolitan Church held a religious ceremony at Saint Teodora of Sihla Church to remember the persons that contributed to the accomplishment of the Union. Politicians, artists and personalities from the cultural life of Moldova laid flowers and lit candles at the graves of the Country Council members in the Central Cemetery located on Armeneasca Street. The first flowers were laid to the monument to Anton Crihan, the youngest and the most long-lived member of the Country Council that voted for the Union. Bessarabian Romanian lawyer, economist, politician, teacher and publicist, Crihan died at the age of 100 in the United States and was buried in Chisinau, as he stated in his will. Ioan Ciuntu, the bishop of Saint Teodora of Sihla Church, and writer Valeriu Matei remembered how they bid farewell to him in 1993. The participants in the event kept silent for several moments at the graves of other deputies that contributed to the Union Act. A part of them were destroyed and can be hardly found in the Central Cemetery. “March 27 is not only a historical event,” said Valeriu Matei. “It remains a sacred day for all the Bessarabian Romanians and all the Romanians in general because 91 years ago, on this day, the national unitary Romanian state started to be rebuilt, Bessarabia being in the van of the events. The ideal of March 27 remains a desideratum for all those that have national and civic conscience,” the writer said. Historian Mihai Tasca said that the Union of March 27 was a moment full of emotions that we should never forget. “We impatiently wait for the day when we could say that we are near our country, our brothers from over the Prut,” said the historian. Mihai Tasca regretted the fact that the present authorities do not consider this event important. “They like to speak about Moldova’s statehood and red events from the Soviet calendar, but they don’t remember a very special event that took place 91 years ago.” The event was attended by members and supporters of two Opposition parties. Alexandru Tanase, the first vice president of the Liberal Democratic Party (PLDM), said that he came to commemorate those that showed courage and wisdom 91 years ago and signed the Act of the Union of Bessarabia with Romania. “It is a turning point in the history of those that live on this territory, the Romanians from Bessarabia. If that Union Act had not been signed, no Romanian-language speakers would have lived today on this territory as the situation would be like that in Transnistria. It was the only solution possible to protect these people from the Bolshevik invasion and plague that affected this zone of the former Tsarist Empire,” Tanase said. “The Country Council included Romanians, Ukrainians, Russians and Jews and all of them united for a common cause to achieve a goal. We can do the same today. The Moldovan people must be united and make a choice for the future on April 5,” said the vice president of the Youth Organization of the Liberal Party (PL) Ion Bargan. Afterward, a commemorative ceremony was held at the building of the Country Council, where the Union was voted on – the present building of the Academy of Music, Theater and Plastic Arts. Then flowers were laid to the statue of Stephan the Great and Holy. In the afternoon, the Association of Historians of Moldova, the Writers Union of Moldova and the Democratic Forum of the Romanians of Moldova will hold the scientific symposium “Union of March 27, 1918: History and Present Time”, involving historians from all over the Romanian area. Launches of books and journals and cultural-artistic activities are held at the office of the Writers Union during the day. Several nongovernmental organizations and political parties will celebrate the Day of the Union of Bessarabia with Romania in the Great National Assembly Square in Chisinau starting at 16.00. The County Council was the parliament of the Province of Bessarabia. After the proclamation of the Moldova Democratic Republic, it became the legislative body of the new republic that later proclaimed the Union with Romania in 1918. Out of the 135 deputies attending, 86 voted in favor of the Union, three voted against, while 36 abstained. Thirteen deputies were absent. The announcement of the result was accompanied by rapturous applauses and enthusiastic shouts “Live the Union with Romania!”