I don't imagine that Traian Basescu thinks such a declaration, voted by the Parliament, can stick to the same theoretical level of the condemnation of Communism, a major political act so far capitalized only in the release of Mr. Tismaneanu's complete works. Will it be just a declaration in terms of principles? This is hard to believe, simply because in other parts of Europe the public condemnation of this pact had very strong and visible consequences of our continent's new map. Maybe you can remember the "Baltic Chain" in August 23, 1989 (the 50th anniversary of the Pact), when over 2 million people of the three Baltic States (Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia) took each other's hands to make a chain longer than 60 kilometers along these states in order to make the international community aware of the historical injustice the three states had suffered because of the application of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact and its secret annexes. A Moscow special committee headed by Alexander Nicolaievici Yakovlev was at once assigned to investigate the existence of the secret protocols. In December 1989 Yakovlev admitted officially, for the first time in the history of the USSR, that the protocols existed and therefore the Congress of Deputies voted for a declaration to acknowledge the existence of the protocols and denounce them. Some analysts say the "Baltic Chain" was the true detonator of a process, certainly motivated by more geo-political reasons and marked by the huge pressure typical of the unique moment when the Communist rulers of Central and East European states collapsed, followed by the dismemberment of the USSR and the making of the independent states we know today. Maybe it is too much to say, but it is certain that the denunciation of the Pact was a juridical basis to provide an even stronger historical legitimacy to the aspiration to national independence of those states whose history was deeply marred by the tragical bargain between Hitler and Stalin. Technically speaking, it is beyond any doubt that Romania is right to invoke, which it has done for a long time and which it is going to make official for the first time, the chopping of some territories as the straight effect of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact. But as a member of the EU and the NATO, what can Romania do, even though it is right? Romania can proclaim it, vote for it, send the Romanian Parliament's resolution to the officials in the West and in Moscow. And then? The question is reasonable, since one sine qua non condition to Romania's entry to both the EU and the NATO was that the country had to accept the principle of obedience to the existing borders and therefore no territorial claims. Theoretically, Moscow is no longer a factor in this equation, because the territories Romania invokes are now integrated in independent, sovereign states. It is just that, in juridical terms, the USSR's denunciation of the protocols should effect on the present status of all the ex Soviet territories. This is in theoretical terms. But in practical terms, to apply this principle now would raise huge difficulties. And the first one, actually a difficulty impossible to settle, is to demand European and Euro-Atlantic instances to accept territorial claims, even if grounded and based on clear historical facts. In such a case, which practical consequences is Traian Basescu hopeful about and what is he counting on? We shall see.

Cristian UNTEANU