Survey: Nearly half of Moldovans against uniting with Romania, slightly less in favor
Around 47.7% of people in the Republic of Moldova are against a union with Romania, while 42.3% are in favor, according to a survey conducted by IData Barometer and cited by News.ro.
The question of a union between the two countries was brought to international attention back in January, when Moldovan president Maia Sandu said she would vote for such a process. “If we had a referendum, I would vote for the unification with Romania,” Sandu told two podcast hosts.
Asked why, she said that "it's getting more and more difficult for a small country like Moldova to survive as a democracy, as a sovereign country, and, of course, to resist Russia.”
The citizens of the Republic of Moldova, however, largely disagree. Around 43.5% of those questioned say they do not support Maia Sandu’s statement in favor of the union with Romania. They are joined by 8.9% of respondents who “rather do not support” the same intention. Roughly 23.7% say they fully support it, and 15.6% “rather support it.”
The survey also tested the impact of Sandu’s statement. Around 38.7% of respondents said they do not support the union regardless of the statement, 17.1% said the statement made them support the union even more, 4.2% declared that they came to support it less, and 30.7% declare that Maia Sandu’s statement did not change their opinion.
According to the same survey, president Maia Sandu has the highest level of trust, 30.6%, among Moldovan politicians, followed by former president and pro-Russian Igor Dodon (10.3%).
The accession of the small country to the EU is supported by 59.7% of those questioned, while 29.7% are against it.
Romania and the Republic of Moldova have a special relationship, having been one country in the past. In 1812, following the Treaty of Bucharest, the Russian Empire annexed the territory between the Prut and Dniester rivers, tearing it away from the Principality of Moldova.
Over the next century, Russian authorities embarked on an aggressive Russification campaign, discouraging the use of Romanian. In 1918, the region united with Romania. In June 1940, under a Soviet ultimatum and military threats, Romania was forced to cede the territory once again. After WW2, the region was incorporated into the USSR, and only became independent with the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
(Photo source: Sjankauskas|Dreamstime.com)
