In 1990, Mikhail Gorbachev, the leader of the Soviet Union, said that no one would ever recognize the independence of the Republic of Moldova, recalls writer Nicolae Dabija, a member of Moldova’s first independent Parliament.
"The first country to recognize our independence was not Romania, as it is said, but Georgia, which, since June 1990, has signaled that it recognizes the Republic of Moldova as an independent state," said Nicolae Dabija.
He noted that the independence of the Republic of Moldova was proclaimed by a Soviet Parliament. "We should acknowledge the courage of that parliament, although, on August 27, 1991, only Moldavia and Kyrgyzstan remained part of the USSR", said the politician.
The process for the independence of the Republic of Moldova commenced from the stands of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. "The delegation from the Republic of Moldova that demanded Moldova's right to freedom from that microphone was dead serious" the writer said.
According to Nicolae Dabija, in the first Parliament after the declaration of independence, the Popular Front managed to recruit many Communist MPs in order to succeed in voting state symbols. "Of the 380 deputies, the Popular Front group had 120. Thus, we didn't have even half and yet we set the tone when we voted for the symbols and when we voted for the break-up not only from the USSR, but also from Soviet mentality”, declared Nicolae Dabija.
He added that an accredited American reporter to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Charles King, at that time, had written that he does not see Moldova's place in the USSR, because "psychologically it is something else". He saw Moldova either independent or united with Romania.
According to Nicolae Dabija, the first Parliament wanted the independence of Moldova to accomplish the removal of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact consequences. “The structure of the first Parliament after the collapse of the USSR was, in fact, pro-Soviet. We did not have the party nomenclature similar to that in the Baltic republics, which broke away from the USSR and wanted to join both the European Union and NATO” said Nicolae Dabija.
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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. The yearly celebration of this founding act is marked as Independence Day. The original Declaration burned during the 2009 protests in Chisinau, but was recreated in 2010.