La margini şi sfârşit de imperiu: Tratatul româno-sovietic din 5 aprilie 1991 şi consecinţele pentru Republica Moldova (At the edges and at the end of an empire: The Romanian-Soviet Treaty from April 5, 1991, and its consequencis for the Republic of Moldova)

he agreement of cooperation, good neighbourly relations and friendship signed at Moscow on the 5th of April 1991 between Romania and the Soviet Union replaced the old Treaty, concluded in 1970. According to the new document, Romania and the USSR considered themselves, in their mutual relations, as well as in the whole international community, in any event, as being States buddy. In this context, although the media have made the claim that the Treaty would be contrary to the interests of Romania and Moldovan SSR, President Ion Iliescu denied the charges, stressing that the Treaty was keeping in mind the processes affirming the sovereignty in the Soviet republics. On the other hand, the President of the Moldovan SSR, Mircea Snegur, declared that thanks to the specific relationships between Chişinău and Bucharest, the direct relationships with the Romanian State had been established even in the absence of the clause relating to Romania's ties with the Republics of the Soviet Union. The Romanian-Soviet Treaty has had a devastating impact on the image of Romania, on her political leaders, in the European capitals and among public opinion on both sides of the Prut River. In Chişinău, the reactions of the public opinion and of the national political forces were extremely vigorous. On 24 April 1991, the members and the sympathizers of the Popular Front also issued a Declaration concerning the Romanian-Soviet Treaty, in which the Treaty was described as being inappropriate, and was considered a challenging act to the fight for independence of Moldova. On the other side of the political barricade, The Communist Party from Moldova has warmly welcomed the signing of the Romanian-Soviet Treaty. Thus, the C.C. Secretary of the CPM, Ion Guţu, considered that the document signed by Presidents Iliescu and Gorbachev removed the odious scenario of the Union. However, the implosion of the Soviet Empire has removed permanently from the agenda the question of ratification and the entry into force of the Soviet-Romanian Treaty of April 5, 1991