TĂNASE v. MOLDOVA JUDGMENT
3
9. Following developments subsequent to the hearing (see paragraphs
68-70 below), the applicant advised that he did not wish the case to be
struck out of the Court’s list.
THE FACTS
I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE
10. The applicant was born in 1971 and lives in Chişinău. He is
ethnically Romanian and is a Moldovan politician.
A. Historical background
11. The Principality of Moldavia first emerged as an independent State
in 1359. Its territory covered the area between the Eastern Carpathian
Mountains, the Dniester River and the Black Sea; today, this area
encompasses Moldova, part of Romania and part of Ukraine. Its population
spoke the same language and was of the same descent as the populations of
Wallachia and Transylvania (both part of modern-day Romania).
12. In the fifteenth century, Moldavia accepted the suzerainty of the
Ottoman Empire.
13. Following the Russo-Turkish war of 1806 to 1812, the eastern part
of the Principality of Moldavia, bounded by the Dniester River on the east
and the River Prut on the west, was annexed by the Russian empire. It was
renamed Bessarabia.
14. In 1859, the western part of the Principality of Moldavia united with
Wallachia and formed a new State. From 1861, the new State was known as
Romania. In 1877, Romania gained independence from the Ottoman
Empire.
15. In early 1918, Bessarabia declared its independence from Russia
and, on 27 March 1918, united with Romania. The population of Bessarabia
became Romanian citizens.
16. The Soviet Union did not recognise the unification of Bessarabia and
Romania. On 28 June 1940, following the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact with
Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union re-annexed the territory of Bessarabia.
17. Following the conclusion of the Second World War, approximately
70% of the territory of Bessarabia, inhabited by some 80% of its population,
became the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic (changed to the Soviet
Socialist Republic of Moldova in 1990). The remaining territory of
Bessarabia became part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. Those