The 80th anniversary of Radio Bessarabia

The Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation has celebrated 80 years since the opening of its first regional channel, Radio Bessarabia.

Bogdan Matei, 09.10.2019, 13:50

Ten years after WW1, when all Romanian provinces with a majority Romanian-speaking population, previously ruled by the neighboring multinational empires, were finally brought together under Bucharest’s authority, Romania resorted to the most effective means of communication of that time, the radio, the only one able to reach even the furthest corners of the reunified country. The Romanian Radio-Telephonic Broadcasting Company first aired on November 1st, 1928, and through successive changes, evolved to today’s Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation. On October 8, 1939, the national radio opened its first regional station, in Chisinau, the biggest city in Bessarabia, the province at Romania’s eastern border constantly threatened by Stalin’s expansionist appetite. According to historian Silvia Grosu, the opening of this radio station in Chisinau had the strategic reason of counteracting the communist propaganda of the Soviet station in Tiraspol, on the other side of the Dniester River.

Silvia Grosu: “The reserves of the Radio Romania Broadcasting Company and the new equipment purchased for Radio Bessarabia turned this station into a very important one, with an excellent signal, twice as strong as the one of Radio Bucharest and Radio Tiraspol. The latter was a strategic point and the most vulnerable one.”

Radio Bessarabia only aired for 300 days. In June 1940 the Russians annexed, following an ultimatum, Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina, and the radio station was taken over by the Soviet power. A year later, the Red Army, upon withdrawal, blew out the building hosting Radio Bessarabia and killed the staff. Radio Chisinau, now part of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation, was reopened on December 1st, 2011, Romania’s National Day, two decades after the Republic of Moldova had proclaimed its independence from Moscow.

Romania’s Ambassador in Chisinau, Daniel Ionita: ”You have proven that what is Romanian endures and in order not to lose the Romanian spirit in Bessarabia, we need a fair and strong voice, we need professionalism and support. We count on you and on the Romanian Television, through your regional stations, Radio Chisinau and TVR Moldova, to contribute to the creation of a common communication ground between Romania and Moldova.”

Pundits say that, stated out loud or not, the vocation of Radio Chisinau continues to be a strategic one. In the neighboring country, three million citizens, that is most of the population, speak Romanian and around one million have Romanian citizenship. They all have the right to accurate information, against the background of a strong Russian propaganda in the country.

(Translated by Elena Enache)