{"id":447503,"date":"2002-08-01T07:28:42","date_gmt":"2002-08-01T07:28:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/?p=447503"},"modified":"2020-07-14T10:45:18","modified_gmt":"2020-07-14T10:45:18","slug":"memorandum-planned-federalization-republic-moldova","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/memorandum-planned-federalization-republic-moldova\/","title":{"rendered":"Memorandum Against the Planned Federalization of the Republic of Moldova"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 8<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

This memorandum against the federalization of the Republic of Moldova was written in the summer of 2002 by Ionas Aurelian Rus, at that time a graduate student in Political Science at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA, currently Dr. Ionas Aurelian Rus, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Cincinnati Blue Ash, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. The other signatures were collected soon thereafter.<\/em><\/p>\n

The opinion does not necessarily represent the opinion of the editorial staff of Moldova.org.<\/em><\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

We, the signers of this declaration, would like to express our disapproval toward the idea of the federalization of the Republic of Moldova. Some of our main arguments are related to public opinion and electoral results. A majority of the population of the areas under the control of the government of the Republic of Moldova would prefer a more centralized form of government than the proposed federation. In addition, federalization is against the program of the ruling Communist Party of the Republic of Moldova, whose leader, President Vladimir Voronin, has recently endorsed the idea of federalization. Moreover, federalization would be unconstitutional. On issues such as the one discussed in this declaration, the constitution may only be revised through a referendum in which a majority of the registered voters of the Republic of Moldova would participate. Finally, we believe that the attempt to push through the federalization plan in the current context is likely to destabilize the situation, possibly to a level unprecedented in the history of post-Soviet Moldova.
\nThe first argument against the federalization of the Republic of Moldova is the opposition of public opinion. The evidence that a large majority of the population of Moldova has been opposed to the transformation of Transnistria into a federal unit of Moldova since the Transnistrian conflict of 1992 comes from a large number of opinion polls. The first such poll was conducted in June and July 1992 within the part of the Republic of Moldova that was not under the control of the Transnistrian secessionist authorities by Professor William Crowther of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, the author of the country study on Moldova in the prestigious series of country studies of the largest and most prestigious library in the world, the Library of Congress [Helen Fedor, Belarus and Moldova : Country Studies , (Washington, D.C. : Library of Congress, c1995)]. The survey was funded by the National Council for Soviet and East European Research, with the support of the Duke University Center for East West Trade, Communication and Investment. (For more details, see Professor Crowther’s unpublished manuscript, “The Construction of Moldovan National Consciousness”.) The survey was administered by the personnel of the Institutes of Ethnography and Sociology of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Moldova and by the National Institute of Sociology of Moldova. The results may be found in various published scholarly articles and manuscripts.
\nThe data presented below comes from William Crowther, “Nationalism and Political Transformation in Moldova”, in Donald L. Dyer (ed.), STUDIES IN MOLDOVAN: THE HISTORY, CULTURE, LANGUAGE AND CONTEMPORARY POLITICS OF THE PEOPLE OF MOLDOVA, (East European Monographs, Boulder, 1996). About 81.6% of all the ethnic Moldovans\/Romanians (who represented 70.3% of the polling sample) desired the area to remain a part of the Republic of Moldova in comparison to 6.8% who desired the federalization of the country and 4.2% who favored Transnistrian independence. Among ethnic Ukrainians (12.2%), the figures were 46.0%, 27.9% and 10.6%, while among ethnic Russians (10.8%), the numbers were 45.6%, 30.8% and 8.3%. See Crowther, “Nationalism and Political Transformation”, p. 40, 46 (table), 49 as well as William Crowther, “Ethnic Politics and the Post-Communist Transition in Moldova”, in Nationalities Papers, vol. 26, no. 1, March 1998, p. 161. The overwhelming majority of the inhabitants desired arrangements in which the Moldovan state would be more centralized than a federal state.
\nA very similar picture is provided by a more recent poll, conducted in late April 2000 by Vladimir Kolosov and Dmitriy Zayats with the collaboration of Luminita Drumea of Chisinau as well as N. G. Babilunga of Tiraspol. Only 7% of the population of the area controlled by the Moldovan authorities believed that Moldova and Transnistria should be joined together in a confederation and 11.9% desired that Moldova should become a federation of equal members. By contrast, 30.8% of the population believed that Transnistria should get a great deal of autonomy within Moldova, whereas 18.3%, including almost one-third of the ethnic Moldovans\/Romanians, thought that Transnistria should form a number of regular counties within Moldova which should not benefit from any autonomy. The rest did not believe that the resolution of the Transnistrian conflict would be possible in the near future. Their lack of faith in the prospects for peace might be based on their realization that union on their terms (apparently almost always a preference for a unitary Republic of Moldova) would not be accepted by the other parties involved in the negotiations.
\nThis latter scenario is suggested by another opinion poll conducted by the Institute of Social Technologies between 10 and 12 November 2001 in the city of Chisinau, the capital of the Republic of Moldova. Even though the Moldovans represented only 55.07% of the population of the city, 48.25% of its inhabitants believed that Transnistria should be an administrative territorial unit within the Republic of Moldova, while 18.47% of the population believed that Transnistria should be an autonomous unit within the Republic of Moldova. By contrast, 17.80% of the population believed that Moldova and the Dniester Moldovan Republic\/Transnistria should be “equal subjects of a unitary state (federation)” and only 2.83% of the population believed that the two entities should be sovereign, independent states. The other inhabitants thought that it would be difficult to provide an answer, did not know or did not respond.
\nPresident Voronin has recently endorsed the idea of the federalization of the Republic of Moldova, and has praised the preliminary federalization plan proposed by the OSCE Mission in Chisinau. It is not legitimate to argue that the electoral victory of the Communist Party of the Republic of Moldova in February 2001 in some sense justifies the federalization of the Republic of Moldova. With this program, the party obtained 50.07% of the valid votes during the above-mentioned elections, states that “The party supports sovereign, independent, one and indivisible State” (sic). [A better translation would have been “The party pleads for a sovereign, independent, unitary and indivisible state”.]\nThe federalization of the country is not allowed by the constitution. Article 1, section 1 of the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova states, “The Republic of Moldova is a sovereign, independent, unitary and indivisible state.” Furthermore, article 10, section 1, states “The national unity of the Republic of Moldova constitutes the foundation of the State. The Republic of Moldova is the common and indivisible motherland of all her citizens.”
\nAny federalization plan may be implemented only after a revision of the constitution of the Republic of Moldova. Due to the importance of the issue, the federalization of the country may be achieved only through a referendum in which a majority of the registered voters participate. Article 142 states, “The provisions regarding the sovereignty, independence and unity of the state, as well as those regarding the permanent neutrality of the State may be revised only by referendum based on a majority vote of registered voting citizens.” Keeping in mind the state of public opinion, a majority of the voters in the country would most probably reject the federalization of the Republic of Moldova.
\nAnother argument against federalization is the fact that it would negatively impact stability in the country, including by increasing political conflict and by causing massive rallies against the plan. A number of political parties in the Republic of Moldova have indicated their opposition against the federalization plan. These include the parliamentary Christian Democratic People’s Party, the Social Liberal Party, the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party of Moldova. These parties and their predecessors (the Liberal Party has been created through the merger of a number of parties) have obtained 22.50% of the votes in the parliamentary elections of 2001. The preparations for the anti-federalization street protests have already started.
\nIt is quite possible that, eventually, the protests against federalization would be the largest since the declaration of independence of the Republic of Moldova. We should not forget the massive demonstrations earlier this year provoked by other issues. At that time, the positions of the demonstrators were supported by a somewhat smaller proportion of the population and by a combination of political parties that had obtained a slightly lower number of votes in the same elections. Moreover, the opposition against federalization is more evenly spread throughout the population, in the sense that there is much more center-left and ethnic minority support for the demands of the potential protesters. Even more importantly, the level of support for the Communists has decreased according to opinion polls to 32.4% of the total population. This figure is arguably lower than at any time since 2000, including than during the elections of 2001, when 33.4% of the registered voters cast their ballots for the party. Therefore, the pushing through of the federalization plan in the current context is likely to destabilize the situation, possibly to a level unprecedented in the history of post-Soviet Moldova.
\nWhile we disagree with his position, we fully agree with President Voronin’s statements in the above-mentioned declaration that this plan is unprecedented and that there is a significant level of criticism directed against the federalization of the Republic of Moldova. We also note that nothing in his declaration, or of anybody else’s statement in favor of the proposal, in any way contradicts the facts documented in our declaration.
\nTherefore, if the constitution of the Republic of Moldova and its democratic procedures would be followed, the federalization of the country should not take place in the foreseeable future due to a number of reasons, including the ones listed above. We are aware of an official OSCE proposal for the federalization of the Republic of Moldova, which has recently appeared in the governmental newspaper “Moldova Suverana” on July 9, 2002. We are also not certain about the extent to which the final version would diverge from this text. Therefore, our criticism against the proposed federalization of the Republic of Moldova would also apply to amended versions of the same plan that do not change its basic nature.
\nTherefore, we, the signers of this letter, would like to express our opposition against the idea of the federalization of the Republic of Moldova. Some of our main arguments are related to public opinion and electoral politics. A majority of the population of the areas under the control of the Republic of Moldova would prefer a more centralized form of government. Moreover, federalization is against the program of the ruling Communist Party of the Republic of Moldova, regardless of the recent endorsement of the idea by its leader, President Vladimir Voronin. Other arguments deal with constitutional issues. Federalization would be unconstitutional. Moreover, the constitution may only be revised through a referendum in which a majority of the citizens of the Republic of Moldova would participate. Finally, we believe that the attempt to push through the federalization plan in the current context is likely to destabilize the situation, possibly to a level unprecedented in the history of post-Soviet Moldova.<\/p>\n

Sincerely,<\/p>\n

1. Ionas Aurelian Rus, New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States of America, 08901-1411, President of the European Studies Graduate Student Association
\n2. Oleg Brega, Chisinau, R.Moldova
\n3. Burdujan Radu, Briceni, R.Moldova
\n4. Septimiu Nechifor, Brasov, Romania
\n5. Jardan Cristian, mun.Ungheni, R. Moldova, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
\n6. Ioan Nicolescu, Canada
\n7. Liviu Cananau, Kitchener, Canada
\n8. Filip Antonio, London, UK
\n9. Vitalie Braniste, Chisinau
\n10. Anatol Caslaru
\n11. Liviu B\u00eerc\u00e3. Chisinau, Rep. Moldova
\n12. Iulian Stefan, M\u00fcnchen, Germany
\n13. Tatiana Basarab, MA student in International Relations, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
\n14. Marin Eladi, Societatea de Tineret pentru Drepturile Omului si Integrare Europeana “Nicolae Titulescu”, U.S.A.
\n15. Cosmin Pacuraru – journalist
\n16. Nicu Jechiu, Chisinau
\n17. Rodica Vermeiuc, Chisinau
\n18. Lia A. Ciocan, Cluj\/Chisinau
\n19. E. Ionita, Bucuresti\/Chisinau
\n20. A. Gribincea, Bucuresti
\n21. D. Maties, Chisinau
\n22. L. Badiceanu, Chisinau
\n23. T. Dascaliuc, Cluj
\n24. A. Jechiu, Cluj
\n25. E. Gregorian, Chisinau
\n26. Nicu Popescu
\n27. Emilia Rus, South Orange, New Jersey, U.S.A.
\n28. Ioan Rus, South Orange, New Jersey, U.S.A.
\n29. Smaranda CAZAN LIVESCU, English Language Professor, Founding President of the first Romanian-American Cultural Center, “Athenaeum” of Atlanta, Georgia, General Secretary of the World Romanian Counci\/CMR, Director in the Board of Directors of the International Women’s Association, Director in the Board of Directors of the Dekalb International Cultures Center
\n30. Lucian I. Livescu, Founding President of the First American-Romanian Trade and Business Chamber of Georgia and the South East, President of the American Romanian Sister Cities Commission, Editor in Chief of “Romanian Times” – publication of the Romanian Cultural Center since 1990
\n31. Paul Diaconu, Doctor in Economics
\n32. C G Matasa
\n33. Dr. Carmen Sabau
\n34. Professor Doctor Mircea Sabau
\n35. Dacian Valentin, Pitesti, Romania
\n36. Ion Ditoiu, Hazleton, PA, USA<\/p>\n

37. George Petrineanau, Link\u00f6ping, Suedia<\/p>\n

38. Andrei Doicin, Geneva, Elvetia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reading Time: <\/span> 8<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>This memorandum against the federalization of the Republic of Moldova was written in the summer of 2002 by Ionas Aurelian Rus, at that time a graduate student in Political Science at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA, currently Dr. Ionas Aurelian Rus, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Cincinnati Blue Ash, Cincinnati, Ohio, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":442447,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-447503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion"],"content_social_share":"Reading Time: <\/span> 8<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

This memorandum against the federalization of the Republic of Moldova was written in the summer of 2002 by Ionas Aurelian Rus, at that time a graduate student in Political Science at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA, currently Dr. Ionas Aurelian Rus, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Cincinnati Blue Ash, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. The other signatures were collected soon thereafter.<\/em><\/p>\n

The opinion does not necessarily represent the opinion of the editorial staff of Moldova.org.<\/em><\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

We, the signers of this declaration, would like to express our disapproval toward the idea of the federalization of the Republic of Moldova. Some of our main arguments are related to public opinion and electoral results. A majority of the population of the areas under the control of the government of the Republic of Moldova would prefer a more centralized form of government than the proposed federation. In addition, federalization is against the program of the ruling Communist Party of the Republic of Moldova, whose leader, President Vladimir Voronin, has recently endorsed the idea of federalization. Moreover, federalization would be unconstitutional. On issues such as the one discussed in this declaration, the constitution may only be revised through a referendum in which a majority of the registered voters of the Republic of Moldova would participate. Finally, we believe that the attempt to push through the federalization plan in the current context is likely to destabilize the situation, possibly to a level unprecedented in the history of post-Soviet Moldova.
\nThe first argument against the federalization of the Republic of Moldova is the opposition of public opinion. The evidence that a large majority of the population of Moldova has been opposed to the transformation of Transnistria into a federal unit of Moldova since the Transnistrian conflict of 1992 comes from a large number of opinion polls. The first such poll was conducted in June and July 1992 within the part of the Republic of Moldova that was not under the control of the Transnistrian secessionist authorities by Professor William Crowther of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, the author of the country study on Moldova in the prestigious series of country studies of the largest and most prestigious library in the world, the Library of Congress [Helen Fedor, Belarus and Moldova : Country Studies , (Washington, D.C. : Library of Congress, c1995)]. The survey was funded by the National Council for Soviet and East European Research, with the support of the Duke University Center for East West Trade, Communication and Investment. (For more details, see Professor Crowther’s unpublished manuscript, “The Construction of Moldovan National Consciousness”.) The survey was administered by the personnel of the Institutes of Ethnography and Sociology of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Moldova and by the National Institute of Sociology of Moldova. The results may be found in various published scholarly articles and manuscripts.
\nThe data presented below comes from William Crowther, “Nationalism and Political Transformation in Moldova”, in Donald L. Dyer (ed.), STUDIES IN MOLDOVAN: THE HISTORY, CULTURE, LANGUAGE AND CONTEMPORARY POLITICS OF THE PEOPLE OF MOLDOVA, (East European Monographs, Boulder, 1996). About 81.6% of all the ethnic Moldovans\/Romanians (who represented 70.3% of the polling sample) desired the area to remain a part of the Republic of Moldova in comparison to 6.8% who desired the federalization of the country and 4.2% who favored Transnistrian independence. Among ethnic Ukrainians (12.2%), the figures were 46.0%, 27.9% and 10.6%, while among ethnic Russians (10.8%), the numbers were 45.6%, 30.8% and 8.3%. See Crowther, “Nationalism and Political Transformation”, p. 40, 46 (table), 49 as well as William Crowther, “Ethnic Politics and the Post-Communist Transition in Moldova”, in Nationalities Papers, vol. 26, no. 1, March 1998, p. 161. The overwhelming majority of the inhabitants desired arrangements in which the Moldovan state would be more centralized than a federal state.
\nA very similar picture is provided by a more recent poll, conducted in late April 2000 by Vladimir Kolosov and Dmitriy Zayats with the collaboration of Luminita Drumea of Chisinau as well as N. G. Babilunga of Tiraspol. Only 7% of the population of the area controlled by the Moldovan authorities believed that Moldova and Transnistria should be joined together in a confederation and 11.9% desired that Moldova should become a federation of equal members. By contrast, 30.8% of the population believed that Transnistria should get a great deal of autonomy within Moldova, whereas 18.3%, including almost one-third of the ethnic Moldovans\/Romanians, thought that Transnistria should form a number of regular counties within Moldova which should not benefit from any autonomy. The rest did not believe that the resolution of the Transnistrian conflict would be possible in the near future. Their lack of faith in the prospects for peace might be based on their realization that union on their terms (apparently almost always a preference for a unitary Republic of Moldova) would not be accepted by the other parties involved in the negotiations.
\nThis latter scenario is suggested by another opinion poll conducted by the Institute of Social Technologies between 10 and 12 November 2001 in the city of Chisinau, the capital of the Republic of Moldova. Even though the Moldovans represented only 55.07% of the population of the city, 48.25% of its inhabitants believed that Transnistria should be an administrative territorial unit within the Republic of Moldova, while 18.47% of the population believed that Transnistria should be an autonomous unit within the Republic of Moldova. By contrast, 17.80% of the population believed that Moldova and the Dniester Moldovan Republic\/Transnistria should be “equal subjects of a unitary state (federation)” and only 2.83% of the population believed that the two entities should be sovereign, independent states. The other inhabitants thought that it would be difficult to provide an answer, did not know or did not respond.
\nPresident Voronin has recently endorsed the idea of the federalization of the Republic of Moldova, and has praised the preliminary federalization plan proposed by the OSCE Mission in Chisinau. It is not legitimate to argue that the electoral victory of the Communist Party of the Republic of Moldova in February 2001 in some sense justifies the federalization of the Republic of Moldova. With this program, the party obtained 50.07% of the valid votes during the above-mentioned elections, states that “The party supports sovereign, independent, one and indivisible State” (sic). [A better translation would have been “The party pleads for a sovereign, independent, unitary and indivisible state”.]\nThe federalization of the country is not allowed by the constitution. Article 1, section 1 of the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova states, “The Republic of Moldova is a sovereign, independent, unitary and indivisible state.” Furthermore, article 10, section 1, states “The national unity of the Republic of Moldova constitutes the foundation of the State. The Republic of Moldova is the common and indivisible motherland of all her citizens.”
\nAny federalization plan may be implemented only after a revision of the constitution of the Republic of Moldova. Due to the importance of the issue, the federalization of the country may be achieved only through a referendum in which a majority of the registered voters participate. Article 142 states, “The provisions regarding the sovereignty, independence and unity of the state, as well as those regarding the permanent neutrality of the State may be revised only by referendum based on a majority vote of registered voting citizens.” Keeping in mind the state of public opinion, a majority of the voters in the country would most probably reject the federalization of the Republic of Moldova.
\nAnother argument against federalization is the fact that it would negatively impact stability in the country, including by increasing political conflict and by causing massive rallies against the plan. A number of political parties in the Republic of Moldova have indicated their opposition against the federalization plan. These include the parliamentary Christian Democratic People’s Party, the Social Liberal Party, the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party of Moldova. These parties and their predecessors (the Liberal Party has been created through the merger of a number of parties) have obtained 22.50% of the votes in the parliamentary elections of 2001. The preparations for the anti-federalization street protests have already started.
\nIt is quite possible that, eventually, the protests against federalization would be the largest since the declaration of independence of the Republic of Moldova. We should not forget the massive demonstrations earlier this year provoked by other issues. At that time, the positions of the demonstrators were supported by a somewhat smaller proportion of the population and by a combination of political parties that had obtained a slightly lower number of votes in the same elections. Moreover, the opposition against federalization is more evenly spread throughout the population, in the sense that there is much more center-left and ethnic minority support for the demands of the potential protesters. Even more importantly, the level of support for the Communists has decreased according to opinion polls to 32.4% of the total population. This figure is arguably lower than at any time since 2000, including than during the elections of 2001, when 33.4% of the registered voters cast their ballots for the party. Therefore, the pushing through of the federalization plan in the current context is likely to destabilize the situation, possibly to a level unprecedented in the history of post-Soviet Moldova.
\nWhile we disagree with his position, we fully agree with President Voronin’s statements in the above-mentioned declaration that this plan is unprecedented and that there is a significant level of criticism directed against the federalization of the Republic of Moldova. We also note that nothing in his declaration, or of anybody else’s statement in favor of the proposal, in any way contradicts the facts documented in our declaration.
\nTherefore, if the constitution of the Republic of Moldova and its democratic procedures would be followed, the federalization of the country should not take place in the foreseeable future due to a number of reasons, including the ones listed above. We are aware of an official OSCE proposal for the federalization of the Republic of Moldova, which has recently appeared in the governmental newspaper “Moldova Suverana” on July 9, 2002. We are also not certain about the extent to which the final version would diverge from this text. Therefore, our criticism against the proposed federalization of the Republic of Moldova would also apply to amended versions of the same plan that do not change its basic nature.
\nTherefore, we, the signers of this letter, would like to express our opposition against the idea of the federalization of the Republic of Moldova. Some of our main arguments are related to public opinion and electoral politics. A majority of the population of the areas under the control of the Republic of Moldova would prefer a more centralized form of government. Moreover, federalization is against the program of the ruling Communist Party of the Republic of Moldova, regardless of the recent endorsement of the idea by its leader, President Vladimir Voronin. Other arguments deal with constitutional issues. Federalization would be unconstitutional. Moreover, the constitution may only be revised through a referendum in which a majority of the citizens of the Republic of Moldova would participate. Finally, we believe that the attempt to push through the federalization plan in the current context is likely to destabilize the situation, possibly to a level unprecedented in the history of post-Soviet Moldova.<\/p>\n

Sincerely,<\/p>\n

1. Ionas Aurelian Rus, New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States of America, 08901-1411, President of the European Studies Graduate Student Association
\n2. Oleg Brega, Chisinau, R.Moldova
\n3. Burdujan Radu, Briceni, R.Moldova
\n4. Septimiu Nechifor, Brasov, Romania
\n5. Jardan Cristian, mun.Ungheni, R. Moldova, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
\n6. Ioan Nicolescu, Canada
\n7. Liviu Cananau, Kitchener, Canada
\n8. Filip Antonio, London, UK
\n9. Vitalie Braniste, Chisinau
\n10. Anatol Caslaru
\n11. Liviu B\u00eerc\u00e3. Chisinau, Rep. Moldova
\n12. Iulian Stefan, M\u00fcnchen, Germany
\n13. Tatiana Basarab, MA student in International Relations, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
\n14. Marin Eladi, Societatea de Tineret pentru Drepturile Omului si Integrare Europeana “Nicolae Titulescu”, U.S.A.
\n15. Cosmin Pacuraru – journalist
\n16. Nicu Jechiu, Chisinau
\n17. Rodica Vermeiuc, Chisinau
\n18. Lia A. Ciocan, Cluj\/Chisinau
\n19. E. Ionita, Bucuresti\/Chisinau
\n20. A. Gribincea, Bucuresti
\n21. D. Maties, Chisinau
\n22. L. Badiceanu, Chisinau
\n23. T. Dascaliuc, Cluj
\n24. A. Jechiu, Cluj
\n25. E. Gregorian, Chisinau
\n26. Nicu Popescu
\n27. Emilia Rus, South Orange, New Jersey, U.S.A.
\n28. Ioan Rus, South Orange, New Jersey, U.S.A.
\n29. Smaranda CAZAN LIVESCU, English Language Professor, Founding President of the first Romanian-American Cultural Center, “Athenaeum” of Atlanta, Georgia, General Secretary of the World Romanian Counci\/CMR, Director in the Board of Directors of the International Women’s Association, Director in the Board of Directors of the Dekalb International Cultures Center
\n30. Lucian I. Livescu, Founding President of the First American-Romanian Trade and Business Chamber of Georgia and the South East, President of the American Romanian Sister Cities Commission, Editor in Chief of “Romanian Times” – publication of the Romanian Cultural Center since 1990
\n31. Paul Diaconu, Doctor in Economics
\n32. C G Matasa
\n33. Dr. Carmen Sabau
\n34. Professor Doctor Mircea Sabau
\n35. Dacian Valentin, Pitesti, Romania
\n36. Ion Ditoiu, Hazleton, PA, USA<\/p>\n

37. George Petrineanau, Link\u00f6ping, Suedia<\/p>\n

38. Andrei Doicin, Geneva, Elvetia<\/p>\n

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