Oh my, this story really made me laugh. Original link in Romanian is here, but the gist of it is that long-time Romanian president Traian Basescu has had his (Republic of) Moldovan citizenship stripped by the new (Moldovan) President Igor Dodon.
This truly is hilarious on several levels. After spending literally his entire life in Romania (and president of the country for 10 years), Basescu and his wife Maria decided to apply for Moldovan citizenship in March 2016 and were granted the same in June 2016. He never quite stated why he wanted/needed this, as all Romanians have the right to travel in Moldova without a visa. But the gossip around the water cooler was that he wanted to run for political office here, although he always denied that.
Who knows, really. Either way, this farce is over… for now.
Battle of the Facebook Posts
Instead of waiting to do things the official way, Dodon announced the removal of Basescu’s citizenship on his (Dodon’s) personal Facebook page.
My translation:
Today, the commission on granting political asylum and analyzing citizenship problems met at the Moldovan President’s office.
…Basescu’s case was analyzed, and I determined that his citizenship was awarded illegally. Basescu has repeatedly called for the dissolution of Moldova and for Moldova to be annexed by Romania, even when he was the President of Moldova, and he has refused to recognize Moldovan sovereignty and the existence of the Moldovan people. All of these things are specifically prohibited in the Moldovan Constitution.
You can quibble about whether or not the Moldovan people exist separately from being ethnic Romanians (and Russians, Ukrainians, Poles, et al) but Dodon is right. The Constitution of most countries, including both Romania and the United States, specifically make it a crime to advocate for the dissolution, break up, or downfall of the government.
Basescu, never to be outdone, responded on his Facebook page.
My translation:
Dodon is a politician who wants Moldova to remain under Moscow’s boot heel and wants to resume the process of Sovietizing the Republic of Moldova… and he is against Moldova rejoining Romania, which is what the citizens of Moldova want.
Uh, no. It’s pretty damn clear that Moldovans don’t actually want to rejoin Romania, and that’s exactly why they voted for Dodon. Christ, that made me laugh, along with the inanity of saying that Moldova is in the process of becoming “Sovietized”.
Look, Dodon is a potato-faced clown, and I don’t really like his attitude, policies, or yes, his very close connections to the leadership in Russia. But the guy is right in this case.
Like it or not, Moldova is a sovereign country.
Like it or not, the Moldovan Constitution prohibits its citizens (and people on its territory) from calling for its destruction (no matter how peaceful).
Like it or not, the majority of people in Moldova do not want a political union with Romania.
And like it or not, Basescu’s citizenship was illegal from the get go. Special citizenship cases require a full year of consideration whereas Basescu got his awarded in just three months. That’s what the law says.
There are plenty of stupid laws in Moldova, but the law is the law. And yes, dealing with immigration is a real bitch indeed. I know a little something about it myself :P
Oh well. Suck it, Base! :D
All Things Romania 
Burnsy, look a bit further back in history. The Republic of Moldova is half of what was once the Principality of Moldavia, the other half being nowadays in Romania. The exchange you mention happened in 1812 when the Turks (the Ottoman power at the time) gave it to Russia in a truce. So yes, until very recently they were in fact the same people. Romania regained Moldova after WWI but lost it after WWII when it became part of the Soviet Union.
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Băsescu was born in the city of Basarabi. Therefore, his request of being „basarabean” is legit. :)
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If Băsescu got his Moldavian Citizenship illegally, then so did his wife. They got it at the same time.
How come She can be a Moldovan ? In Moldova one can be stripped of his Citizenship for Political reasons, legality has nothing to do with this!
Not the way the things work in any Western or democratic Country!
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Your title “stripper’ was click bait for me. I grudgingly read the article anyway. It caused me to research a little about Moldova. At one time it belonged to the Ottoman Empire and somehow was taken or given to Russia. It was interesting to note that the religion is 98 percent Orthodox Christian. No mention was made about any Muslim population. That is good. It was also interesting to learn that the Language is pretty much Romanian but was written in Cyrillic alphabet. That seems curious to me.
Enjoyed the article. It is probably a good that the President of Moldova is suspicious of Basescu. If the people wanted to become part of Romania they would have done that when they declared their independence. Now the people just have to be careful that the Russians don’t decide to move back into Moldova.
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