The role of Moldova’s intellectuality in obtaining independence and sovereignty was prolific, while the national assemblies were simply extraordinary, political pundit Igor Boțan stated in IPN’s public debate “Price and effects of Independence. Comparative study (1877 vs. 1991)”.
‘The intellectuality was an active part of society that flied the flag. People with ideas entered that movement. Those who didn’t really understand in what coordination system they were later reacted. We saw the revenge attempt when the Party of Communists came to power. It is a normal process,” stated Igor Boțan.
According to him, during the over three decades since the obtaining of Independence, the people’s wish to have an independent state integrated into the European community had been taken into account somehow. Official documents and the text of the Declaration of Independence show that all the 11 parliamentary legislatures, with small exceptions, promoted documents concerning the European integration of the Republic of Moldova. In 2014, when the Republic of Moldova signed the Association Agreement with the European Union, the Socialists went to the Constitutional Court, which passed a decision based on the Declaration of Independence, noting that the European integration is the strategic goal and natural path of the Republic of Moldova.
Igor Boțan said all things followed a logical path. Not all the ex-Soviet republics faced such serious problems in keeping the status of independent country as the Republic of Moldova did. The Baltic States received assistance immediately after they declared their independence. A US$2 billion fund was created by the Scandinavian countries. “We cannot compare the situations, but in 32 years we reached this promising point. We overcame all those difficulties and now reached this point due to the circumstances and the 11 legislatures of the Republic of Moldova, which remained more or less consistent,” he noted.
The permanent expert of IPN’s project also said that the EU and its development partners agree to help the Republic of Moldova to develop its infrastructure and be a country that, sharing the European values, will be part of this Union. Romania is now a respected state and it solved strategic problems related to security, economic development, within the EU and NATO. Romania is obliged to ensure security on its borders with the Republic of Moldova.
“In the Republic of Moldova, an increasing number of parties speak about gradual integration with Romania through integration of the cultural, infrastructural and other spaces. So, things follow a process we need to analyze, realize and we should make efforts to accelerate things where we can so that we could also say that security in the Republic of Moldova is ensured at all levels and the living standards are growing,” stated Igor Boțan.
The public debate entitled “Price and effects of Independence. Comparative study (1877 vs. 1991)” was staged by IPN News Agency as part of the project “Impact of the Past on Confidence and Peace Building Processes” which is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation of Germany.
