The theme of unionism – the direct unification of Romania with the Republic of Moldova (or vice versa) – has been quite popular in the last decade, mostly west of the Prut, growing east of the river. It is not surprising that many politicians from Bucharest or Chisinau, activists of various orientations, citizens in search of publicity seized on this topic and spread it in the mass media, social networks, at various demonstrations, at election meetings, conferences, they recorded it in public buildings or on on the sides of roads.

Adherents of this movement had/have a certain education acquired before and/or after the fall of the communist regimes, they had/have political imagination and state aspirations that were inspired by the past, revised by paved paths, interpreted by old tools. Some of those who intercepted and disseminated this speech were/are in good faith, understand and accept the idea of ​​unification in the Euro-Atlantic geopolitical framework, even if at certain points they were naive, had discursive excesses or associated with people from difficult paths.

But the most prominent among the riders of this current were demagogues, fishermen in muddy water, those who turned their backs on the asphalt, hit themselves on the head with a stone, sacrificed themselves, always when there were televisions from the audience or at least a few guys from the committee with cameras or smartphones in front of them . Several of them were either employees of the Romanian or Russian special services.

In this text, I have in mind three political biographies, one from the Republic of Moldova and two from Romania. I find them illustrative of the type of activist who pretends to be a trade unionist but is actually an oriental horn.

Yuri Roshka: from unionism to Duginism

In the Republic of Moldova, the most famous of this large gallery is Yuri Roshka. In 1989, he was an activist of the front, he supported the declaration of independence of the Republic of Moldova in 1991, so that a few years later he became the leader of a political formation – the People’s Christian Democratic Party – which claimed to be pro-Romanian. and pro-European. Roshka was a member of the Chisinau Parliament for a decade and a half. All this time, he was supported by generous resources from Bucharest, transferred in various ways, some in Romanian politics and intelligence services believed that they had found the right partner (or puppet). Being in opposition to the Communist Party and Volodymyr Voronin, Roshka later entered into alliances and various agreements with them, which provided him with personal prosperity, but also contributed to the exacerbation of the political, social and economic crisis in the country.

After 2009, when he no longer entered the parliament, Roshka became a propagandist of Euroscepticism, went with weapons and luggage to the Putinist camp, claimed that the Republic of Moldova’s place is not in the European Union, implicitly next to Romania, but next to Russia, in Eurasia he claimed , that Moldovan society needs an authoritarian leader, clearly a model of Putin and Lukashenko. More and more often, he conducted anti-European and anti-Romanian propaganda in the country, which yesterday declared that it wants to unite with Romania. Before the closure of the Chisinau editorial office in 2022, Roska, who was considered the main factor behind Sputnik in Romanian, was the companion and translator of Oleksandr Dugin on a trip to Bucharest that aimed to turn Romanians to face the east. In 2020, the Romanian authorities banned Roshka from entering Romania for five years.

Recent receipts

The last ones who tried to raise the topic of unionism and became the loudest were those who went to the Romanian Parliament in December 2020 on the lists of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians. The ideological foundations of this formation are ultra-nationalist, some with autochthonous bases, legionary or national-communist heritage, others borrowed from the East or West, intensively promoted by Putinist Russia or Trumpist groups in the United States of America. Sovereignty is added to them, which is also found in various circles of the European Union.

Activists of the AUR and their sympathizers were distinguished by the spread of extremist ideas, anarchic tendencies, promotion of mistrust of European institutions, themes of the rupture of Romanian society and conspiratorial perspectives, visible during the pandemic or after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The most prominent bearers of the message were George Simion and Diana Sosoake.

George Simion: the “revolution” of the gallery

For years, George Simion presented himself as a fighter for the union of the Republic of Moldova with Romania. After a radical practice in the football gallery, Simion initiated demonstrations in Bucharest and Chisinau, knocked on the doors of many politicians, many of them controversial, and was enthusiastically supported by journalists, academics and social activists, for whom the mere use of the word “trade union movement” meant the removal of any critical exercises, obtaining resources from the shadows. Expelled from the Republic of Moldova several times for breaking the law, the savior hero sacrificed himself, considering himself and presenting himself through his propaganda networks as a symbol and leader of the unionist cause.

After years of media spectacle and an unsuccessful candidacy for the 2019 European Parliament elections, Simion, together with others, created the political company Alliance for the Union of Romanians. Taking advantage of the pandemic, a targeted campaign in social networks and the support of shadow circles, the party became a deputy.

Volodymyr Putin’s undermining of European and world stability with a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022 gave Simion, after initial hesitation, the opportunity to take a public position against Ukraine and support it or Ukrainian refugees who arrived in Romania, pretend to be a lawyer for Romanians in Chernivtsi, Odesa regions, etc. An ardent “unionist”, the deputy demanded in December 2022 to stop Romania’s aid to the Republic of Moldova. That is, the latter should be left alone, not receive any help, suffer the punishment for the fact that the president, the government, the parliament and the population did not play the way the AUR leader sang. This is exactly how the Bolsheviks thought and acted in the past: the worse the country is, the more the conditions for a “revolution”, for riots, for coups, for invasions, for the capture of coveted territories, with all the population and resources.

Although he says that he was only concerned about the fate of Romanians and their unification in one state, Simion was repeatedly accused of playing Moscow’s game. Anatoly Shalaru, a former parliamentarian and former Minister of Defense of the Republic of Moldova, once an admirer and supporter of Simion, recently stated that, according to Moldovan and Ukrainian sources, the AUR leader once had connections with a resident of the FSB (former KGB) in Chernivtsi and with an influential agency Moscow in Chisinau. There would also be an explanation for one of his expulsions from the Republic of Moldova. We have no confirmation from independent sources, but we also cannot ignore such a serious allegation.

Diana Sosoake: offensive bălci

Diana Soshoake had an obscure public career (counselor) around the leader of the PSD, Eugene Diimarescu, the Minister of Trade in the government of Adrian Nestase, two decades ago. But she became famous in 2020, during the parliamentary election campaign. This was emphasized by conspiratorial messages, aggressiveness and violation of measures to prevent and overcome the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. He entered parliament on AUR lists, but came from the Romanian National Party, a political group founded by former Pedestist nationalist Ninel Peia. Only two months after he became a parliamentarian, Shoshoake was expelled from the AUR due to disputes with the leaders of the formation. She no longer had access to televisions, which invited her to the studio for a while. Read the whole article and comment on Contribuotrs.ro