In December 2023, EU leaders agreed to open accession negotiations with Moldova after the Balkan state received EU candidate status in June 2022. How do Moldovans feel about EU integration? Euronews Correspondent Hans von der Brelie travelled to Moldova to find out.
ADVERTISEMENTSandwiched between Romania and Ukraine and located north of the Danube River, Moldova has a population of 2.6 million people and spans a mere 33,846 km². Despite its size, the Balkan state is a melting pot of cultures and ethnicities.
The current pro-EU government in Chişinău is trying to fast forward the EU accession process but, pro-Russian opposition parties are calling residents to strengthen partnerships with Moldova's eastern neighbours instead.
The majority of Moldovans are backing the government’s plans to join the European Union by 2030 but, there are also fears, particularly among the elderly and within Russian-speaking communities in Moldova, that EU integration is a bad idea.
To get a complete picture, Euronews caught up with three young Moldovans - Rusanda, a pro-European cultural worker living in a tiny village in the Moldovan countryside; Nikita, a 20-year-old International relations student who admires “strong leaders like Viktor Orbán, Vladimir Putin and Alexandr Lukashenko" and Nadejda, a 26-years-old businesswoman, hoping to sell her Moldovan-made peanut butter across the bloc through the European Single Market.
The first stop on Hans' list was Hîrtop, a small village with approximately 1,000 inhabitants. Here he met Rusanda, a cultural and environmental activist who leads a network of villages trying to stem the rural exodus by developing and promoting access to art and culture in rural areas and within marginalised groups.
"There are many nationalities in Moldova and we are a multilinguistic society. So, we respect this diversity... European culture is not only about diversity but also about critical thinking, critical discourses. And it’s about community building”, Rusanda said.
Next, Hans met a pro-Russian international relations student, Nikita, on the outskirts of the capital, Chişinău. Nikita explained why he thinks EU integration is not the way forward: “Total integration with the West is not in the interests of [Moldovan] citizens. The economic interest of Moldova is to expand relations with the EU, but above all, with our eastern partners - Russia and China. The integration of Moldova into the EU as it stands, at a time of total state degradation and destruction, is unacceptable.”
Finally, Hans met Nadejda, the founder of Moft, a spreads and confectionary startup. The 26-year-old launched her product after COVID-19 prevented her from returning to the US where she working as a salesperson and tennis coach, her business has grown from strength to strength.
“We have big potential here in Moldova. We need to grow more in the food industry, in the manufacturing industry, with the farmers, and we can keep people here, we can hire more people” Nadejda added.
Moldova's government wants the country to be part of the EU by 2030. But it takes two to tango; will the EU be able to get ahead with the internal reforms needed before of accepting further member states? Will Moldova make the necessary changes to its judicial, economical and political systems to get the green light from Brussels?
To watch Hans' full report, click on the video in the media player above.