[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 40 (Friday, March 26, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E454-E456]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             THE UNITED STATES, ROMANIA, AND . . . MOLDOVA

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JIM GIBBONS

                               of nevada

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 25, 2004

  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I respectfully request that the following 
document be entered into the Congressional Record. As you may know, 
many of my constituents and friends in the state of Nevada are of 
Romanian descent, and it is with those individuals in mind that I make 
this request.

       The Romanian-American Community greeted with joy the fall 
     of communist dictatorships and the dissolution of the former 
     Soviet Union. They also greeted with optimism the declaration 
     of independence of the newly created Republic of Moldova . 
     Their paramount hope was that the people of this republic, of 
     whom the majority are ethnic Romanians, would develop along 
     democratic lines and would become part of the enlarged 
     European family. Their joy was short-lived. Russia soon 
     launched a new geopolitical policy aimed at bringing back to 
     its fold Moldova and other parts of the former Soviet Union. 
     As of March 2004, Belarus is well under Moscow's control, 
     Ukraine is barely capable of claiming its independence, and 
     Moldova has virtually collapsed as a result of new Russian 
     political pressure and economic strangulation. The communist 
     government of Moldova has recently withdrawn the 
     parliamentary immunity of the last members of the democratic 
     opposition and is ready to imprison them. Due to these 
     humanitarian, political, and geopolitical reasons, the 
     Romanian communities of the United States have changed their 
     views and have suggested a new policy toward Moldova . . . 
     Here is their new stand as prepared by Dr. Nicholas Dima.)


             the united states, romania, and . . . moldova

       This essay represents the position of a large number of 
     responsible and loyal American citizens of Romanian descent 
     with regard to the current status of the Republic of Moldova. 
     Heretofore, we present the facts.

[[Page E455]]

       Since times immemorial, the current Republic of Moldova 
     (better known as Bessarabia) has been populated by Romanians. 
     During medieval times, this land was the eastern half of the 
     Principality of Moldova, one of the three principalities that 
     made up modern Romania. Tsarist Russia occupied it for the 
     first time in 1812 and used it to further expand into 
     southeast Europe. Russian interference in the Danube and the 
     Black Sea navigation caused the West to side with Turkey 
     during the Crimean War of 1856. At the end of the war, Russia 
     was forced to retreat from the Danube and southern 
     Bessarabia. Nevertheless, the tsars occupied the whole 
     province again following the new war of 1877. Then, after the 
     Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, the province voted to reunite 
     once and for all with Romania. Unfortunately, the new Soviet 
     Union did not accept the union and somewhat puzzling for us, 
     the United States did not ratify the union of Bessarabia with 
     Romania either.
       Between WWI and WWII Moscow promoted a policy of 
     territorial expansion and global communism. In this part of 
     Europe, Moscow pursued the goal of re-annexing Bessarabia and 
     further intruding in the Balkans. This policy was implemented 
     after Nazi Germany and communist Soviet Union signed the 
     Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact to divide Eastern Europe. The Soviet 
     republic of Moldova was thus set up in 1940 after the Red 
     Army invaded the province. Actually, in anticipation of the 
     annexation, as early as 1924 Moscow had set up an autonomous 
     Moldavian republic on the left bank of the Dnestr in the 
     Ukraine. Its sole purpose was to prepare the future 
     annexation. When the occupation of the province was 
     accomplished in June 1940, Moscow disbanded the autonomous 
     republic and returned to Ukraine part of it together with the 
     northern and southern parts of Bessarabia. The old name that 
     recalled the Romanian origin of the province was banned from 
     the Soviet vocabulary. To further complicate the issue, 
     Moscow incorporated into the new Moldavian SSR a slice of 
     land on the left bank of Dnestr with the city of Tiraspol as 
     its center. Ever since, this highly Russified industrial area 
     has remained a cauldron of communism and expansionism.
       The ethnic Romanian majority of the occupied territory was 
     never asked if they wanted to be part of the USSR. Neither 
     were the other ethnic groups asked if they wanted to be 
     annexed or arbitrarily divided between the newly created 
     republic and the Ukraine. Furthermore, well-informed 
     international circles as well as local survivors have 
     revealed that during and after WWII up to a million 
     inhabitants of Soviet Moldova, mostly Romanians, were 
     arrested, deported or killed by the Soviet authorities. At 
     the same time, Moscow sent hundreds of thousands of Russians 
     to replace the local Romanians and to secure the allegiance 
     of the new republic. Yet, to this day two thirds of the 
     population of this land is still ethnic Romanian although 
     they have been forced to call themselves Moldavan.
       Perestroika of the 1980's brought new hopes of freedom to 
     the peoples of the USSR, and by the early 1990's every Soviet 
     republic including Moldova had declared its independence. 
     However, to prevent Moldova's reunification with Romania, the 
     Russians from Tiraspol declared the independence of their 
     region and named it the Dnestr Moldavian republic. Soon 
     after, a war between Moldovan authorities and this 
     territorial entity erupted with disastrous consequences. Ever 
     since the Trans Dnestr region has remained a communist 
     stronghold and a hub of arms trafficking, smuggling, and 
     other illegal activities. It should be stressed that most of 
     the Tiraspol leaders are Russian citizens who were planted 
     there by Moscow in the 1980's. It should also be underlined 
     that most of them are involved in illicit activities and many 
     have been banned from traveling in West Europe.
       After the dismemberment of the Soviet Union, Russia 
     continued to keep military units and huge quantities of 
     equipment and ammunitions in the Trans Dnestr region. As 
     recently as December 7, 2003, for example, ``The Washington 
     Post'' wrote that this enclave has been led by mafia-style 
     leaders and has remained, an extremely dangerous place for 
     black marketing in weapons. According to The Washington 
     Post'', ``this area has 50,000 tons of shells, mines and 
     rockets, enough to fill 2,500 boxcars''. The same paper also 
     points out that the Trans Dnestr region has a sizeable 
     quantity of dirty bomb warheads and possibly other weapons of 
     mass destruction ready to be sold to whoever has the cash 
     to acquire them. Nonetheless, the new Russian authorities 
     under President Putin continue to back this separatist 
     region and its leaders. It is obvious that Moscow has not 
     relinquished its expansionist aspirations toward the 
     Balkans and the Black Sea. Actually, several Russian 
     political leaders have stated openly that Moldova, as well 
     as Georgia in the Caucasian region, are areas of 
     traditional Russian interests and that they should be kept 
     under Moscow's control. While the population of the 
     Russian Federation is ailing and suffers grave 
     misfortunes, Moscow is wasting its resources pursuing 19th 
     century geopolitics.
       Ever since the overthrow of Ceausescu's dictatorship in 
     l989, the Romanians looked to the West for guidance and to 
     the East hoping to reunite Bessarabia with the country. 
     Romania, however, has been economically ruined and 
     politically disoriented and does not have the means to 
     resolve by itself this old geopolitical wound. At the same 
     time, the Romanians expected some Western support to redress 
     the situation, but they did not get any. No wonder some 
     Romanians question whether there is a new agreement signed at 
     Malta, similar to the Yalta accords, that leaves the eastern 
     part of Moldova in a new Russian sphere?
       At the beginning of the new millennium the European Union 
     is looking toward unifying the old continent. Concomitantly, 
     NATO and the United States are integrating new friends and 
     allies in Eastern Europe. The Balkans, however, is still a 
     dangerous place and is very close to the Middle East and 
     south Asia. Romania has an important geopolitical and geo-
     strategic location and the Romanians are overwhelmingly pro-
     Western and pro-American. They have already welcomed American 
     troops and military bases on their soil. Yet, they are 
     questioning the soundness of the official U.S. policy with 
     regard to Moldova.
       Indeed, loyal American citizens of Romanian origin are 
     surprised to see that the U.S. is still taking for granted 
     this new state entity that has no merits, no adequate means 
     of survival, and no raison d'etre. While the world has 
     condemned the Ribbentr-Molotov Pact, Washington continues to 
     accept its legacy. For the time being and given the drive to 
     join NATO and the European Union, the Romanian officials are 
     not willing to challenge the U.S. stand, but the time will 
     come when the issue will be raised again, and the people are 
     waiting. The United States should be proactive rather than 
     reactive and be prepared to deal with this matter in a manner 
     that would not offend the Romanians and would not hurt 
     American interests.
       The decade of the 1990's was extremely difficult for the 
     Republic of Moldova. From an economic standpoint, Russia 
     strangled the small republic. From a politic point of view, 
     Moscow spent huge amounts of money to keep it in its sphere. 
     From an ethnic point of view, the local Russians did 
     everything to prevent the Romanian majority from cultivating 
     their culture and pursuing their roots. At the same time, the 
     democratic opposition of Moldova was almost annihilated and 
     by 2000 the Communist Party was brought back to power. Once 
     again in charge, the communists launched a policy of gradual 
     return to the old system. The process of privatization began 
     to be reversed, the free media began to be harassed, and the 
     new authorities started to persecute the pro-Western 
     democratic opposition
       It is worth noting that during the 1990's Moscow approached 
     Romania alluding to the possibility of allowing the 
     reunification of Moldova with Romania. But Moscow warned the 
     government in Bucharest to avoid membership in the NATO and 
     not to trust the Americans because they would betray Romania. 
     Given their historic experience, few Romanians paid any 
     attention. The country opted clearly and firmly for Euro-
     Atlantic integration. While joining NATO and siding with the 
     United States in Afghanistan and Iraq, Romania has also tried 
     to promote good relations with Russia. This policy has not 
     pleased Moscow.
       It appears that the disintegration of Moldova has been one 
     of the Kremlin's responses to the enlargement of NATO. Thus, 
     acting in collusion with the leaders of Tiraspol and in 
     agreement with the new communist government in Chisinau, 
     Moscow endorsed the idea of reorganizing Moldova as a 
     federation. Allegedly, the purpose is to solve the Trans 
     Dnestr conflict and to secure the territorial integrity of 
     the republic. Consequently, the plan of federalization is 
     being advanced in spite of violating the provisions of the 
     very constitution of the state. Accordingly, the new federal 
     organs are supposed to be in place by early 2005. Strangely, 
     the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe 
     (OSCE) chaired in 2003 by an American ambassador, concurred 
     initially with this dubious project. The project only 
     advances the geopolitical goals of expansionist circles in 
     Moscow and the murky interests of the leaders in Tiraspol. 
     Moscow has not only tolerated those leaders, it is actually 
     helping them to hold the area as a Russian bridgehead against 
     the West.
       A December 4, 2003 editorial of ``The Washington Post'' 
     reveals that the United States has understood the true nature 
     of Russia's policies in Moldova and Georgia. And for the 
     first time an American administration has taken a firm stand. 
     The editorial emphasizes that Moscow has never fully accepted 
     the independence of Moldova, ``a desperately poor country 
     that for more than a decade has lived with a separatist 
     splinter, Trans-Dnestr, that is controlled by an ethnic 
     Russian criminal mafia backed by Russian troops and arms.'' 
     What Mr. Putin wants, the editorial continues, is ``to make 
     Moldova a neutral state, to disband its armed forces, and to 
     give Moscow a veto over its government.'' The editorial adds: 
     ``the American administration is taking steps to thwart 
     Moscow's neo-imperialism.''
       The situation is somewhat similar in Georgia. The United 
     States is firmly against the disintegration of the two 
     republics. Nevertheless, while the Caucasian Republic of 
     Georgia needs every form of support to strengthen its 
     independence, we strongly believe that the only sound 
     resolution for Moldova is to return it to Romania.
       In summary:
       The Republic of Moldova is a Romanian land transformed 
     arbitrarily by Moscow into an artificial independent entity. 
     It has never been a separate state throughout its entire 
     history and its very existence is an open invitation to 
     geopolitical instability. It only

[[Page E456]]

     promotes Russia's expansionism, even to the detriment of 
     democracy and the welfare of the very Russian people. It 
     is by design directed against the stability of Europe and 
     it represents an insult to the Romanian nation. And, last 
     but not least, in the future, its continuous existence 
     will mar the good relations between the United States and 
     Romania, thus hurting America's interests.
       We, responsible and loyal American citizens of Romanian 
     descent, are aware of the risky consequences of modifying 
     borders. We are aware of America's limitations and of 
     Russia's reluctance. But we also believe in America, we 
     believe injustice, and we believe in redress. With good will, 
     wisdom, and an open mind, the problem could be properly 
     addressed. Thus, we recommend that the United States start 
     considering the reunification of this land with Romania where 
     it belongs. Such an approach would avoid further 
     complications and undesirable consequences. To this end we 
     are ready to lend our full and unconditional support.
       Nicholas Dima, PhD
       Retired professor
       JF Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, Fort Bragg, 
     NC
       US Naval War College, Newport, RI

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