Moldova’s challenging elections have indeed shown that the future of the country is with the European Union. This should come in no surprise. Similar to young Ukrainians, young Moldovans look at their neighbors for inspiration. They see the positive changes in Romania and other former communist EU neighbor states and draw comparisons with states that remained under Putin’s “sphere of influence.”
To understand the events in Moldova one cannot ignore the meteoric rise of Romania, a country that used to often be the object of ridicule but is now gradually becoming one of the most important players in the Balkans, Central and Eastern Europe. Young people in Moldova see this and want to have closer ties with it, and for some, even to unite. A potential EU membership for Moldova will undoubtedly bring both countries closer together.
At the same time, while younger generations and very likely their parents who often work in the diaspora advance more pro-EU positions, encouraged by their ability to afford a home and pay for/attend higher education, Russia looks for weak spots to penetrate in to advance its influence hoping to undermine the pro-EU narrative which this group of Moldovans advocate for.
Russia did find a weak spot though. Moldova’s elderly population is significant. Given how much of a lengthy process EU integration is, it is probable that they understand they won’t necessarily live to see the day where Moldova becomes equal in prosperity with other EU countries in the neighborhood.
During the elections, to use this weakness as an advantage, Russia used both illegal methods such as documented incidents of bribery but also an information campaign to undermine the pro-west government accusing it, among other things, of forsaking impoverished Moldovans who most often can’t even pay for basic needs such as electricity.
It’s important for Young Moldovans to understand that the EU future they aspire for, one in which their country becomes equally prosperous as Romania, Poland and the Czech Republic will very likely achieve great things for them and their future children and grandchildren, but they must not abandon their own grandparents. A Moldovan grandmother who can’t afford to pay for electricity in the winter because she knows the gas comes from Russia or that her pensions might be cut because it depends on Russian capital funds from Moldovan oligarchs who work there cannot be expected to think and aspire for her country’s future when her present in bleak.
As the population of Europe grows older every year, young people must understand that their grandmother’s voice at the ballot box is just as decisive as their own.
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