The one who stamps on the walls the message “Bessarabia and Romania” has become a parliamentarian and wants the union of Romania with Moldova / Simion is compared to Viktor Orban
For a long time, the identity of the street “artist” who stamped the walls of buildings with the message “Bessarabia and Romania” in the colors of the tricolor was a mystery, he notes. Euronews who makes a portrait of George Simion, leader and member of the Romanian Parliament from the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), the one who wants the union of Romania with the Republic of Moldova.
For more than a decade, Romanians have been accustomed to seeing, inscribed on buildings or on walls near crowded highways, three words in red, yellow and blue: “Bessarabia and Romania”.
“Bessarabia no longer exists, but when it did exist, it was the land that Russia and later the Soviet Union occupied between the Prut and both banks of the Dniester River, to the border with Ukraine and to the west with Romania.
It is the territory now known as Moldova.
In a 2015 interview, an artist said that anonymity prevents their message from being affected.
“Yes, I wrote this message on many walls, like my friends,” said George Simion. “I’m everywhere”.
For those who know Simion, the revelation is not a big surprise. Before becoming a co-leader of AUR, he was a pro-union activist who was involved in large protests and who, clearly, is now banned in Moldova.
His political party, with the specific intention of lobbying for the unification of ethnic Romanians in Romania, Moldova and parts of Hungarian Transylvania, even though it won 12% of the votes in the 2020 parliamentary elections – is no longer a political party with a single problem.
In an interview with Euronews, Simion said that in no case did he abandon the issue that brought him into politics.
“The union between Romania and Moldova is extremely important for us. We are one nation separated by unfortunate historical circumstances. We share the same historical culture, and two thirds of Moldovans are Romanian, ”he said.
But to be pro-Europe as opposed to being pro-Russian we do not have that most Moldovans want a union with Romania in a form that Simion would like to see. AUR advocates a complete merger between nations, with a common government and institutions. It would be a whole new nation, with a common capital, a flag and a national anthem. Simion suggested that Bucharest would be the capital, but also Brasov, in Transylvania. He does not mention Iasi, but the cultural capital of Romania was the current capital of Moldova before becoming part of Romania. It is 300 kilometers from Chisinau.
As for the new name of the country, Simion would like the Union of Romanian States. But even in this regard, he thinks it doesn’t matter.
“What matters is to do well where criminals like Hitler and Stalin made mistakes. We must not help the people of Moldova to get rid of a failed state, “he said.
However, for Simion, the “union” of Moldova with Romania in the European Union is a dream. Unlike the media, which describes AUR as a Eurosceptic party, it is in favor of Moldova’s accession, he told Euronews, and wants the country to be a member of the EU. Last but not least, as a protection against expansionist and increasingly belligerent Russia.
Simion compared himself to Hungarian leader Viktor Orban and his GOLD party with Fidesz, and the two men certainly have one thing in common. AUR co-founder Claudiu Târziu has based his political campaign against gay marriage, and Simion has supported Hungary’s anti-LGBT law and wants similar legislation to be introduced in Romania.
“Is there a world in which George Simion – activist turned politician fighting for something that many people did not want, at least in Moldova, if he holds the balance of power or even power in Romania?”, This question with which Euronews concludes the article.
source: News.ro, photo source: Inquam Photos / Octav Ganea