Hey everyone, sorry but unfortunately the roundup has been delayed until tomorrow. It’s been a busy week here and I want to take a good amount of time and try and digest the week’s happenings for you all.
In the meantime, one of the reoccurring themes in Moldova Matters these days has been just how little talk there has been in Moldova or about Moldova regarding the crisis between Russia and Ukraine. Feel free to leave thoughts and questions here and I’ll do my best to answer them!!
An American friend who lives in Moldova said it best to me…”Moldovans like to vacation in Odessa and that’s probably off the table right now”. She saw that as the biggest immediate impact.
I'm not even sure there is that much attention being paid. I have some acquaintances visiting Odessa right now and friends planning trips to Ukraine in the coming months. Talking to people it's really rather interesting. Russian speakers here discount the possibility of war out of hand. Romanian speakers seem not to be paying attention at all. It seems mostly a reflection of what the press is saying in different languages. For different reasons, most people are not paying that much attention.
You are absolutely right! I have been thinking that too - how odd it is that Moldova hasn't been mentioned in various articles about the Ukraine-Russia situation considering the proximity and potential threats. Have there been any public statements from Moldovans this week about the crisis?
Basically none at all. I will dive in tomorrow in the Roundup but basically the Prime Minister and others have responded to questions during press conferences in a guarded way "we hope for a peaceful solution," etc but no official statements. There have been statements on the current (yes again) gas crisis here which Russia is driving. Most likely the Moldovan government is attempting to avoid outright criticism or support for Ukraine in order to keep the gas on right now. It's practical and pragmatic but results in the vast majority of Moldovans I talk to having little to no idea that the chances of a major war breaking out next door are increasingly real. Most of the press here is used to focusing on domestic matters so without any government line on what is going on many outlets are kinda treating the situation as a far off curiosity.
I'll elaborate a bit more tomorrow. I completely agree that it's kinda wild that Moldova, as the only other non-NATO country here is being left out of all the commentary from the western press.
An American friend who lives in Moldova said it best to me…”Moldovans like to vacation in Odessa and that’s probably off the table right now”. She saw that as the biggest immediate impact.
I'm not even sure there is that much attention being paid. I have some acquaintances visiting Odessa right now and friends planning trips to Ukraine in the coming months. Talking to people it's really rather interesting. Russian speakers here discount the possibility of war out of hand. Romanian speakers seem not to be paying attention at all. It seems mostly a reflection of what the press is saying in different languages. For different reasons, most people are not paying that much attention.
You are absolutely right! I have been thinking that too - how odd it is that Moldova hasn't been mentioned in various articles about the Ukraine-Russia situation considering the proximity and potential threats. Have there been any public statements from Moldovans this week about the crisis?
Basically none at all. I will dive in tomorrow in the Roundup but basically the Prime Minister and others have responded to questions during press conferences in a guarded way "we hope for a peaceful solution," etc but no official statements. There have been statements on the current (yes again) gas crisis here which Russia is driving. Most likely the Moldovan government is attempting to avoid outright criticism or support for Ukraine in order to keep the gas on right now. It's practical and pragmatic but results in the vast majority of Moldovans I talk to having little to no idea that the chances of a major war breaking out next door are increasingly real. Most of the press here is used to focusing on domestic matters so without any government line on what is going on many outlets are kinda treating the situation as a far off curiosity.
I'll elaborate a bit more tomorrow. I completely agree that it's kinda wild that Moldova, as the only other non-NATO country here is being left out of all the commentary from the western press.