Graffiti writing Basarabia e România ("Bessarabia is Romania") in Timișoara, Romania
Graffiti on a road on the border between Dâmbovița County and Prahova County, in Romania, saying Uniți sub tricolor – Basarabia e România! ("United under the tricolor – Bessarabia is Romania!").

"Bessarabia, Romanian land" (Romanian: Basarabia, pământ românesc), "Bessarabia is Romanian land" (Basarabia e pământ românesc) or "Bessarabia is Romania" (Basarabia e România, also Basarabia este România[1]) is a popular and commonly used[2][3][4][5][6] Romanian nationalist and irredentist slogan posing claims over the geographical region of Bessarabia, today divided between the Republic of Moldova and parts of Ukraine.[5] According to the Romanian newspaper Adevărul, the use of this slogan as a patriotic catchphrase started in 2006 from a group of anonymous young Romanians from Bucharest.[7]

The slogan has been often used in demonstrations and events supporting the unification of Moldova and Romania.[8][9][3][10] It is also seen with frequency in graffiti and stickers on walls and other places throughout Romania,[11][1][5][6] although it is also used in Moldova.[12][13] The phrase has had several notable uses at various times, such as at a protest organized by the Romanian political party Noua Dreaptă ("New Right") against the Bucharest Pride edition of May 2010,[14] in a huge banner during a football match between France and Romania on 5 September 2010 in the Stade de France[15] and for vandalizing a synagogue in Chișinău, the capital of Moldova, along antisemitic and Nazi symbolry.[13] Furthermore, it was used during the Centenary March of 2018.[16]

Notable individuals and entities that have used this slogan include the Romanian activist and politician George Simion[17] and the Romanian politician Rareș Bogdan[18] but also the Romanian party Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), of which Simion is the president.[19] Romanian historian Lucian Boia has shown himself against the use of the phrase, saying that, in his opinion, it is not appropriate to say that "Bessarabia is Romania" because Moldova "has its own history and its own challenges" and because, at the time of his declarations, most Moldovans preferred to remain independent rather than uniting with Romania as indicated by certain polls, although he admitted the similarities between the two countries.[20]

The slogan has also been applied to other former regions of Romania, such as Bukovina by the Romanian historian Georgeta Filitti [ro] in an article for the Romanian radio station Radio România Cultural[21] and Transnistria by the Romanian politician Bogdan Diaconu [ro] in a newspaper article for Adevărul.[22] It has also been used for regions already part of Romania, such as Transylvania by the former Social Democratic Party (PSD) president Victor Ponta[23] and Dobruja for a contest organized for students by the County Council of Tulcea.[24]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Este Basarabia România? Argumente pro și contra". Shtiu (in Romanian). 5 November 2020.
  2. ^ Soare, Sorina (2020). "Romania: the challenges of contested identities" (PDF). In Bayó Belenguer, Susana; Brady, Nicola (eds.). Pulling Together or Pulling Apart?: Perspectives on Nationhood, Identity, and Belonging in Europe. Nationalisms Across the Globe. Vol. 21. Peter Lang. pp. 339–378. ISBN 9781787073043.
  3. ^ a b Humă, Roxana Adina (2013). "Contested borders: representing boundaries within Moldovan museums" (PDF). In Whitehead, Christopher; Eckersley, Susannah; Mason, Rhiannon; Lloyd, Katherine Jane (eds.). "Placing" Europe in the Museum: People(s), Places, Identities. MeLa Books. Vol. 8. Polytechnic University of Milan. pp. 45–60. ISBN 9788895194356.
  4. ^ Boia, Lucian (2018). "Oldness, unity and continuity: Romanian historical mythology". MemoScapes. Romanian Journal of Memory and Identity Studies. 2 (2): 1–11.
  5. ^ a b c Dumitrica, Delia (2019). "The ideological work of the daily visual representations of nations". Nations and Nationalism. 25 (3): 910–934. doi:10.1111/nana.12520. hdl:1765/117796. S2CID 150661172.
  6. ^ a b Hatłas, Jerzy (2018). "Bułgarskie diaspory w Południowo-Wschodniej Europie (Besarabia, Nadazowie, Krym) – uwagi wstępne". Slavica Lodziensia (in Polish). 2: 81–89. doi:10.18778/2544-1795.02.07. hdl:11089/29505. S2CID 200117065.
  7. ^ Ionescu, Sinziana (27 October 2015). "Cine sunt băieții care umplu pereții cu "Basarabia e România". Anonimii care au scris pe ziduri mesajul unirii în toată România și dincolo de Prut". Adevărul (in Romanian).
  8. ^ Luca, Ana Maria; Necșuțu, Mădălin (4 September 2018). "Romania-Moldova unification movement grows despite obstacles". Balkan Insight.
  9. ^ Țigău, Valentin (28 March 2016). "The Union of Bessarabia with Romania after 98 years" (in Romanian). Radio Romania International.
  10. ^ ""Basarabia este România", "Jos hotarul de la Prut". Proteste la Iași, în timpul ședinței comune a guvernelor din România și Moldova". Jurnalul Național (in Romanian). 3 March 2012.
  11. ^ Bird, Michael; Bănilă, Nicoleta (27 March 2015). "How realistic is a union between Romania and Moldova?". The Black Sea.
  12. ^ Stan, Liviu G. (27 November 2017). "Elevă din Rep. Moldova a Școlii de Poliție din Câmpina: "Basarabia e pământ românesc"". InfoPrut (in Romanian).
  13. ^ a b "Synagogue vandalized in Moldovan capital". Haaretz. 15 September 2010.
  14. ^ "Miting pentru normalitate al Noii Drepte, la București și Timișoara - GALERIE FOTO". Mediafax (in Romanian). 22 May 2010.
  15. ^ Dungaciu, Dan (2014). "The part that wants to become whole: identity discourses in the Republic of Moldova". Romanian Review of Political Sciences and International Relations. 11 (1): 3–14. S2CID 154364565.
  16. ^ "Participanții la Marșul Centenarului au ajuns ieri seară la Cluj-Napoca". români.md (in Romanian). 5 July 2018.
  17. ^ "Euronews: Is there a world in which George Simion holds the balance of power or even power in Romania?". DigLogs. 16 October 2021.
  18. ^ "Rareș Bogdan: Basarabia ESTE România!". Comisarul (in Romanian). 27 March 2021.
  19. ^ Iancu, Petre M. (7 December 2020). "Europa și aiuritorul AUR, acest faur al putinismului românesc". Deutsche Welle (in Romanian).
  20. ^ "Lucian Boia: Ambasadorul american la Chișinău a făcut o afirmație corectă: Basarabia nu e România". Digi24 (in Romanian). 3 September 2016.
  21. ^ Filitti, Georgeta (8 October 2018). "Bucovina, pământ românesc, de Georgeta Filitti" (in Romanian). Radio România Cultural.
  22. ^ Diaconu, Bogdan (6 August 2013). "Transnistria este tot pământ românesc, ca și Basarabia". Adevărul (in Romanian).
  23. ^ "Este inacceptabil ca un român să nu se poată angaja în Harghita și Covasna, afirma Victor Ponta, la Forumul Civic al Românilor". HotNews (in Romanian). 20 March 2010.
  24. ^ Zagoneanu, Cecilia (12 November 2020). "Concursul "Dobrogea, pământ românesc" și-a desemnat câștigătorii". Ziua de Constanța (in Romanian).

External links

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