Thousands of people have been demanding for one week that Romania and Moldova start a legal procedure to merge into one single state by 2018. That year, the centenary of the union between the old kingdom of Romania, Transylvania and Bessarabia will be marked.

Most Romanians and Moldovans share the same language and culture, and both coutries have very similar flags. Romania and Moldova formed a single state in the interwar period. Unification supporters in Moldova argue those facts make Romanians and Moldovans one single nation. They also say Moldova -which has a much lower GDP that Romania's- would benefit from unification. Critics, however, underline that Romania and Moldova have been separated for decades, both before and after the interwar period, and this, according to them, has given rise to an Moldovan separate identity.

Demonstrations began on 5th July in the Moldovan capital Chisinau, where thousands of people -30 000, according to the organization- concentrated in the city's downtown. The gathering had been called by several unionist organizations, including Action 2012.

The gathering's manifesto asked Romanian and Moldovan lawmakers to overcome "ideologies and party interests" with the goal of uniting "both banks of the Prut," the river that marks the border between Romania and Moldova. The text proposed that the two states form a "joint working group" to prepare laws allowing the return "of Bessarabia [the historical name of the current Republic of Moldova] to the Motherland, Romania."

Seven-day march from Chisinau to Bucharest

After having gathered in the Moldovan capital, walked for seven days and more than 400 kilometres from Chisinau to the Romanian capital city Bucharest. The tour -known as "March of Stephen the Great," after a 15th-century Moldavian prince- ended on July 12th in front of the Romanian Parliament. Walkers expected to meet Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, but he was out of the country.

In a Facebook message, Iohannis admitted he was "impressed" by the action. According to the president, protesters had shown a willingness to reach a "common destiny," which Iohannis placed in the "European" framework.

Romanian prime minister Victor Ponta, writing in Facebook too, was more explicit by saying that "Romanians on both banks of the Prut share a common destiny". Even though, he did not commit himself to the realization of the merger.

Moldova's pro-EU center-right coalition government advocates a rapprochement to Romania, without merging both states. Union is fiercely opposed by Moldova's pro-Russian main opposition party, the Socialists, who reject the very notion that Romanians and Moldovans form one single nation.

(Image: one moment of the march / photo by Action 2012.)