The High-Level Visits

Paper title:	The Relationships between the Socialist Republic of Romania and the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in the Matrix of Brezhnev's Socialism and Ceaușescu's National Communism. The High-Level Visits (1976)
DOI:	https://doi.org/10.4316/CC.2019.01.011
Published in:	Issue 1, (Vol. 25) / 2019
Publishing date:	2019-07-31
Pages:	203-220
Author(s):	Palamarja Olesea
Abstract:	The Romanian-Moldovan rapports in the post-war era were rather a reflection of those between Bucharest and Moscow. Although there had been registered reciprocal activities among the organizations, which were functioning alongside the Council of Ministers or the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Moldova, there were rare remarkable moments. Among these, one can mention the presence of a Romanian delegation led by Nicolae Ceaușescu in Chișinău on 2nd and 3rd August 1976. It was the first visit made by a Romanian head of state to the MSSR during the Communist regime, followed by both a visit of the General Secretary of the Soviet Union Communist Party, Leonid Brezhnev in the same year in Bucharest and of a delegation led by Ivan Bodiul. The Romanian delegation's visit coincided with the 36th formation anniversary of the Soviet Moldova. In the context of disagreements, which were affecting the relationships between Bucharest and Moscow, the visit in Chișinău wanted to be a chance to "freshen up" the connections of USSR with the Socialist Republic of Romania. The acceptance of invitation by the Romanian leader was interpreted as a gesture of renunciation at Bessarabia. At the end of their stay in the Soviet Moldova, the Romanian part launched an invitation to the hosts to come to Romania. The visit of the Moldovan delegation took place at the end of the same year, but it was preceded by the arrival of Leonid Brezhnev in Bucharest. At the same time, in 1976 there were discussed the Treaty regarding the Soviet-Romanian border status, the cooperation and assistance in borders issues. The year 1976 marked a development of the Soviet/Moldovan-Romanian relations, in the context in which the Kremlin, seconded by the party leadership in Chișinău, consistently sought to limit as much as possible the contacts of the inhabitants from both sides of the Prut River.
Keywords:	Romania, Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic, communism, high-level visit, Ivan Bodiul, Nicolae Ceausescu, Leonid Brezhnev.

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