Moldova and the Ukraine War: Fear and Compassion

The Republic of Moldova is concerned about the war in neighboring Ukraine. The fear is great that the war will spread. The help for the many refugees in the country is all the greater.

“Bonjour Cafe” is the name of the neat, green-paneled coffee kiosk in Chisinau’s city center. Sounds from jukeboxes penetrate across the adjacent small park. There are already tables and chairs outside. A seemingly spring-like idyll, which 33-year-old Arkady and his girlfriend Irina also enjoy. They try to suppress the fact that the war in the neighboring country is less than two or three hours’ drive away: They’re afraid “that it could come to us too,” says Arkady. Moldovans are not like Ukrainians. Moldova does not have a strong military, “actually no military at all or a strong national consciousness that we could defend”. They hoped that the Ukrainians would be able to stop and push back the invading Russian forces “so that we are not forced to flee from this place too”.

Arkady and Irina lived in Kyiv for a few years, returned and are currently hosting relatives from Ukraine at home. Moldova, which has fewer than three million inhabitants, has taken in more refugees per capita than any other neighboring country. Of the more than 350,000 war refugees who have crossed the Moldovan border, 110,000 are currently still in the country and more than three quarters of these people have found shelter with private hosts.

“It’s happening right behind our border,” say Arkady and Irina. Many have relatives and friends in Ukraine – “we feel very connected to them”.

Hope there will be peace soon

It is an ever-present concern that has prevailed among the population and politicians alike since the Russian invasion of Ukraine: that the war will not stop at the borders of Europe’s poorest country. She doesn’t talk to her friends and relatives about the omnipresent topic, says Kristina, who was once a stewardess before she lost her job due to the pandemic: But you only have to look them in the eye and you’ll know – “how they look at you”. .

It’s a very stressful time, but, says Kristina, a “quiet, stressful time.” They don’t “talk about it” and also prefer not to think about it, not to deal with “bad things”. The hope is that there will be peace soon.

Russian troops in Transnistria

Moldova, formerly a neglected Soviet republic on the extreme edge of Moscow’s sphere of influence, has been divided in two since independence in 1991: in a Russia-dependent strip of land along the border with Ukraine, Transnistria, in which around 1,700 Russian soldiers are stationed and – according to reliable estimates – ten times the size Reservist force is stationed, and in the Republic of Moldova with around 6000 soldiers.

Igor Munteanu, ex-Moldova’s ambassador to Washington and until recently a member of parliament, observed that people were “starting to get scared that they would be attacked” by the Russian military “which sees Odessa as a target – and Moldova has it never a military strength that would impress anyone”.

The Republic of Moldova declared its neutrality early on, back in 1993. According to foreign policy expert Munteanu, this is an illusion because Russia has never recognized it. Moscow has always torpedoed the country’s development via the separatist region of Transnistria. Now, in Moldova, some people would say, “Look, the Russians are asking the Ukrainians to go neutral, and we’re almost there.” In fact, Russia has always exploited the weaknesses of smaller countries and denied the sovereign right to choose with whom to ally.

View of Brussels

When Ukraine submitted its application to become a member of the EU on March 1, Georgia and Moldova did not hesitate for long: a few days later these two former Soviet republics also sent their application to Brussels. Moldova is seeking protection under the EU umbrella, even if this will not be realized quickly.

For the ex-stewardess Kristina, as for most of her compatriots, life has changed fundamentally. She couldn’t believe “that the war could be so close”. When you hear about wars in Africa or Syria or other countries that are far away, you feel sorry, but the war is far away. “But when the war is right next door and you hear noises in the morning that somehow sound like rain but come from fighting, then it’s very difficult.”

The war in the neighboring country casts a dark shadow over Moldova’s future.