 Moldova - national flag
The flag was officially introduced in 1990, when the coat of arms of the
Romanian flag was reintroduced in 1989. The three colors of the flag represent
the past, present and future and reflect the people's historical traditions and
democratic principles, equality before the law as well as friendship and
solidarity with all the citizens of the republic. The coat of arms consists of
coat of arms from the area's historic provinces of Moldova and Wallachia.
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the image in PNG format and flag meaning description about this country.
Moldova - history
present-day Moldova was the eastern part of the Principality of Moldova,
until in 1812 the area between the rivers Prut and Dniester, Bessarabia, was
conquered by Russia. Russia lost control of the area during the Crimean War, but
after the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78, Bessarabia again became part of the
Russian Empire. After the October Revolution of 1917, Bessarabia liberated
itself as an independent principality in union with Romania. In an attempt to
reclaim Bessarabia in 1924, the Soviet Union formed an autonomous Moldovan
Soviet republic east of the Dniester, whose population, however, was only a
third of Moldovan.
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the world, such as MDA which represents the official name of Moldova.
In connection with the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact in 1939, Romania
ceded northern Bukovina and Bessarabia to the Soviet Union. Northern Bukovina
and southern Bessarabia were integrated into the Ukrainian SSR, while the rest
of Bessarabia and the Moldovan ASSR were united in a Soviet republic, the
Moldovan SSR, in August 1940. After World War II, many Moldovan peasants were
deported; the area was hit by a catastrophic famine, while many Ukrainians and
Russians moved to the cities. In the 1950's, under the leadership of Leonid
Brezhnev, the republic sought political, economic, and cultural integration
into the Soviet Union.
From the 1960's, a growing national consciousness could be traced in the
Moldovan SSR, where the historical, linguistic and cultural kinship of the
Romanians was emphasized. This trend continued in the 1970's and especially in
the 1980's, when Soviet annexation and Sovietisation policies were also
questioned. In 1988, a popular front was formed with demands for reforms,
independent. In the 1990 election, the nationalist and pro- reform wing,
and the reform communist Mircea Snegur, won(b. 1940) was elected
president. Thereafter, a "moldovation process" began, which, however, also
resulted in a reaction on the part of the significant non-Moldovan
population. In August 1990, the Gagaus proclaimed their own republic around the
city of Komrat, while Russians and Ukrainians in the area east of the Dniester
the following month proclaimed an independent republic, the Dnieper Republic,
around the city of Tiraspol. They were not recognized by the central government
in Chişinău, which, however, even declared independence from the Soviet Union
on 27 August 1991. Moldova has gradually established itself on a less
nationalist policy and has found a modus vivendi with the non-Moldovan
nationalities and as a member of the CIS emphasized an independent course in
relation to both the immediate neighbors, Romania and Ukraine, as well as
Russia. In 1996, another former reform communist, Petru Lucinschi (b. 1940),
replaced Snegur as president, while a parliamentary election in March 1998 gave
the Communists the largest share of the vote, without gaining an absolute
majority. They got it in return in the parliamentary elections in 2001, which
gave the Communist Party 71 of the 101 seats, after which the parliament elected
the party leader, Vladimir Voronin(b. 1941), for president for four years. This
made Moldova the first and so far (2006) only former Soviet republic where the
Communists have come to power again. However, Voronin did not do anything about
the country's chronic poverty, and the problem with the Dniester Republic did
not come close to a solution either. However, the opposition was divided and the
Communists also won the parliamentary elections in 2005, but had to have the
support of members of the opposition to get Voronin re-elected. In his second
term, Voronin would focus on improving the social and economic situation,
democratizing society, resolving the conflict around the Republic of Dniester
and seeking European integration. However, the country remains Europe's poorest
country and corruption is widespread. Moldova is covered by the EU Neighborhood
Policy, and in 2005 an action plan for the country was launched with a view to
approximating EU rules and policy objectives. The EU also participates The OSCE,
the United States, Russia and Ukraine in their efforts to mediate between
Moldova and the Dniester Republic. Russia's de facto recognition of the
breakaway region strained relations with Moldova, and relations between the two
countries cooled further in 2006, when disagreements arose over the price of gas
supplies from Russian gas company Gazprom and Russia stopped importing Moldovan
wine. Relations with neighboring Romania have been strained since the early
1990's. As a neutral country, Moldova will not seek membership of NATO, whose
Partnership for Peace Cooperation has participated in since 1994, but in its
second term, President Voronin has set closer cooperation with NATO as a key
foreign policy goal. Moldova is a member of GUAM collaboration and helped breathe
new life into it in 2006.
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