Naturalisation of Moldovans is a necessary symbolic gesture

According to the provisional results of the Republic of Moldova's parliamentary elections, which took place yesterday, Wednesday, the four opposition parties have won a majority of the votes. This represents a defeat for the governing communist President Vladimir Voronin and prompts the daily Gândul to write about Romania's relations with Moldova: "The generation that is no longer so young has a pragmatic stance: What good would it do us to unite with our brothers on the other side of the Pruth [the river that forms the border between Romania and Moldova]? It is a country that lags behind Romania from an economic point of view and could set us back in development. … At the same time a current survey confirms a fact that does us little honour: The Romanians are at the bottom of the table in Europe as far as national pride is concerned. … Paradoxically, thousands of Moldovans want to become Romanians and thus appear to be more patriotic than the Romanians are. … 'Speeding up' the granting of citizenship will at most result in a few hundred additional applications being processed. But this is nonetheless a necessary symbolic gesture."

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