Central Committee of Communist Party of Moldavia Information and Relations with Foreign Countries Section

Ex. Nr. 1
Moldavian SSR
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
14 April 1980

CC of Communist Party of Moldavia [1]
Information and Relations with Foreign Countries Section

Top Secret

On this occasion [we] expedite the transcript of the conversation of Cde V. I. Drozdenko, Ambassador of the USSR in the SRR [Socialist Republic of Romania], with V. Cazacu, Political Executive Committee member [and] RCP CC Secretary, which took place on 12 March 1980 in Bucharest, the transcript arriving through the diplomatic post.

Annex: 7 pages

Secretary General of the MFA of the Moldavian SSR

(signature) N. Stepanov

[1] Translator’s note: In conformity with common usage at the time, the term “Moldavia” and “Moldavian” are used to differentiate the territory and population residing in the Moldavian SSR from the northeastern province of Moldova in Romania and the population residing there. However, the Romanian language as used both in Romania proper and in Moldavia (the current Republic of Moldova) employs the same term (“Moldova”) for both. Before the Russian empire extended into the region in the 18th century the term “Moldova” referred to one territorial unit that included both Romanian Moldova and most of the territory that eventually comprised the Moldavian SSR (as well as the Bugeac/Budjak region now in Ukraine). After 1989 the US State Department Geographer officially designated the English variant of the new independent state as the Republic of Moldova while referring to the Romanian province as “Moldavia” for purposes of differentiation, thus reversing previous practice. The terms “Moldavia” and “Moldavian” are employed here in conformity with common American usage at that time.