 In the climate of Mikhail Gorbachev's perestroika and glasnost, national sentiment escalated in the Moldavian SSR in 1988.In 1989, the Popular Front of Moldova was formed as an association of independent cultural and political groups and gained official recognition.The Popular Front organized a number of large demonstrations, which led to the designation of Moldovan as the official language of the MSSR on August 31, 1989 and a return to the Latin alphabet.