The signing of the Declaration of Independence was preceded by the Great National Assembly, which took place on August 27, 1989, two years before the solemn moment of adopting the declaration of independence in the Parliament. The statement belongs to Ion Hadârcă, one of the signatories of the Declaration of Independence and chair of the Popular Front. Ion Hadârcă also mentioned for IPN that the events of August 27, 1989 represented the acme of the national movement in the current Republic of Moldova.
"On August 27, 1991, what was expected at the Great National Assembly in 1989 was practically achieved. The Popular Front which I led had also other objectives, such as denouncing the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact," Ion Hadârcă said.
The former MP said that the atmosphere in the Parliament hall, but also in the PMAN was a special, festive one, everyone came and expressed his opinion at the microphone. There were also MPs who opposed the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Ion Hadârcă also mentioned that at the meeting of August 27, 1991, the Romanian language was voted as state language and that the anthem adopted was “Desteapta-te romane”/"Wake up Romanian".
The poet mentioned that, in those days, the situation was unclear throughout the former Soviet Union. "I had the mission to present the Declaration of Independence at the Congress of MPs of the Soviet Union in Moscow. We asked the members of Congress to acknowledge our independence. I approached Mihail Gorbachev, the then president of the USSR. He nodded resignedly, thus it was confirmed, "said Ion Hadârcă.
The former member of the first Parliament also stated that, in the event of failure of the democratic process in the former USSR, he would have been appointed to form a government in exile. "The government in exile would have been formed if the military coup in Moscow, which took place on August 19, 1991, had succeeded. As it was no longer the case, a few days later the Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Moldova was adopted," Ion Hadârcă said.
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On August 27, 1991, 28 years ago, the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova adopted the Declaration of Independence, a document signed by 278 deputies. This founding act is marked every year as Independence Day. The original declaration burned during the 2009 protests in Chisinau, but was restored in 2010.