- Countries and Their Cultures
- Culture of Moldova
Culture Name
Alternative names.
Moldavian, Romanian, Bessarabian. Moldavia is the Anglicized version of the Russian Moldavija and is not used by Moldovans. Many Moldovans consider themselves, their culture, and their language Romanian. Moldovans/Romanians in the region between the rivers Prut and Dniestr sometimes call themselves Bessarabians.
Orientation
Identification. The principality of Moldova was founded around 1352 by the Transylvanian ruler ( voievod ) Dragoş in what today is the Romanian region of Bucovina. According to one legend, Dragoş successfully hunted a wild ox on the banks of the river Moldova and then chose to stay in the land, which he named after the river. The name "Moldova" probably derives from the German Mulde , "a deep river valley with high banks."
Location and Geography. The Republic of Moldova is a landlocked country between Romania and Ukraine that covers 13,199 square miles (33,845 square kilometers). It includes the Gagauz Autonomous Region in the south and the disputed Transdniestrian region in the east. The latter region separated from Moldova in 1991–1992 but did not gain official recognition. The capital, Chişinău, is in the center of the country and has 740,000 inhabitants. Chişinău was first mentioned in 1436 and was the capital of the Russian province of Bessarabia in the nineteenth century.
Moldova is on a fertile plain with small areas of hill country in the center and north. Only 9 percent of its territory is covered by forest, mostly in the middle. In the northern part, fertile black soil prevails and the primary crop is sugar beet. In the central and southern zones, wine making and tobacco growing are widespread. The temperate continental climate in the center of the country, with long warm summers, relatively mild winters, and high rainfall, is favorable for agriculture. The semiarid Budjak steppe in the south has drought problems. The main rivers are the Dniestr in the east and the Prut in the west. Both originate in the Carpathians; whereas the Dniestr flows directly into the Black Sea, the Prut joins the Danube at the southern tip of the country.
Demography. Moldova has 4.32 million inhabitants. In the 1989 census, 64.5 percent of the population was Moldovan, 13.8 percent Ukrainian, 13 percent Russian, 3.5 percent Gagauz (a Christian Orthodox Turkic people), 2 percent Bulgarian, 1.5 percent Jewish, and 1.7 percent other nationalities, mainly Belarussians, Poles, Greeks, Germans, and Rom (Gypsies). Although the official number of Rom is only 11,600, the real number probably is 100,000. There are few concentrated Rom settlements in Moldova, and the degree of linguistic assimilation (Russian or Moldovan) is high. The Ukrainian population traditionally settled in the north and east. Gagauz and Bulgarians have concentrated settlements in the southern Budjak region. The Russian population, for the most part workers and professionals brought to Moldova after World War II, is concentrated in Chişinău, Bălţi, and the industrial zones of Transdniestria. Jews have lived in Moldovan cities in great numbers since the early nineteenth century, but many have left. Between 1990 and 1996, Moldova experienced a total migration loss of 105,000 persons. Jews, Ukrainians, and Russians were the most likely to leave. Consequently, the Moldovan portion of the population was believed to have increased to 67 percent by 1998. The population density is the highest in the territory of the former Soviet Union.
Symbolism. The national symbols represent over six hundred years of history as well as a close connection to Romania. The state flag is composed of the traditional Romanian colors of blue, yellow, and red. In the center is the republic's seal, consisting of the Romanian eagle with the historical Moldovan seal on its breast. Since the fourteenth century, the seal has consisted of an ox's head with a star between its horns, a rose to the right, and a crescent to the left. The national anthem was the same as that of Romania in the early years of independence but was changed to "Our Language" ( Limba noastră ), which is also the name of the second most important secular holiday. Its name has a special integrating power in two respects: Language is the most important national symbol for Moldovans, and it evades the answer to the question of how this language should be labeled: Romanian or Moldovan. All these symbols, however, do not appeal to other ethnic groups and thus confine the idea of an "imagined community" to the titular nation.
In regard to the conflict over symbols between "Romanians" and "Moldovans," the ballad Mioriţa plays a crucial role. It tells the story of a Moldovan shepherd who is betrayed and murdered by two Romanian colleagues: For the Romanian side, this story is about an "incident in the family," while for the Moldovan side, it reproduces the distinction between the good, diligent, and peaceful Moldovan and the mean and criminal Romanian. Next to hospitality, diligence and peacefulness are the national characteristics Moldovans associate with themselves. When Moldovans want to show pride in their country, they refer mostly to the qualities of its wine and food and the beauty of its women. Wine is an especially powerful symbol, associated with quality, purity, and healing. The cellars of Cricova with their extensive collection of old wines are considered the state treasure. Moldovans are also eager to underscore their Latin heritage, expressed by the statue of a wolf feeding Romulus and Remus in front of the Museum of National History in Chiţinău.
History and Ethnic Relations
Emergence of the Nation. According to official historiography, the Republic of Moldova derives directly from the Moldovan principality that was founded by Dragoş and gained independence from the Hungarian kingdom under the Valachian voievod Bogdan I in 1359. The government thus celebrated the 640th anniversary of statehood in 1999. However, what is today the Republic of Moldova consists only of the central and eastern parts of the original principality. The Transdniestrian region was never part of the principality, but Moldovan colonists settled on the left bank of the Dniestr in the fifteenth century. At the beginning of the fifteenth century, the principality extended from the Carpathians to the Dniestr. Under Stephen the Great (1457–1504), who defended the principality successfully against the Ottoman Empire, Moldova flourished. Many churches and monasteries were built under his regency. Stephen is regarded as the main national hero of contemporary Moldova. His statue stands in the city center of Chişinău, the main boulevard is named for him, and his picture is printed on every banknote. However, soon after Stephen died, Moldova lost its independence and became, like the neighboring principality of Valachia, a vassal state of Constantinople.
In the Treaty of Bucharest of 1812, the Ottoman Empire was forced to cede the area between the Prut and the Dniestr to the Russian Empire under the name Bessarabia. In 1859, western Moldova and Valachia formed the united principality of Romania, which gained independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1878. Thus, the Moldovans in Bessarabia were excluded from the Romanian nation-building process and remained in an underdeveloped, remote, agricultural province of the Russian Empire. Only with the upheavals of the World War I and the October Revolution did the Moldovans of Bessarabia join the Romanian nation-state. The Moldovan parliament, the Sfatul Ţării, declared the independence of the "Democratic Republic of Moldova" on 24 January 1918 but then voted for union with Romania on 27 March 1918. The unification was mostly due to the desperate circumstances the young, unstable republic faced and was not applauded by all sections of the population. The following twenty-two years of Romanian rule are considered by many Moldovans and non-Moldovans as a period of colonization and exploitation. The subsequent period of Sovietization and Russification, however, is regarded as the darkest period in the national history. Stalin annexed Bessarabia in June 1940 and again in 1944, when the Soviet Union reconquered the area after temporary Romanian occupation. The northern and southern parts of Bessarabia were transferred to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR), and in exchange the western part of what since 1924 had been the Moldovan Autonomous Socialist Republic on the territory of the Ukrainian SSR was given to the newly created Moldovan Socialist Soviet Republic. Having been ruled by foreign powers since the sixteenth century, Moldova declared its independence on 27 August 1991.
National Identity. After sentiments ran high in favor of unification with Romania at the beginning of the 1990s, the tide turned, and in a 1994 referendum 95 percent of the voters elected to retain independence. As a result of their close historical, linguistic, and cultural ties with Romania, many Moldovans see themselves as Romanian. At the same time, the one hundred eighty years of separation from Romania and the different influences Bessarabia has experienced since the early nineteenth century have preserved and reinforced a distinctive Moldovan identity east of the Prut. Unlike Romanians, a high percentage of Moldovans have an ethnically mixed family background. Consequently, probably less than 5 percent of the people consider themselves to have a pure Romanian identity, whereas another 5 to 10 percent would identify themselves as Moldovan in the sense of being outspokenly non-Romanian. The existence of these two groups is reflected in a fierce debate between "Unionists" and "Moldovanists." Most inhabitants of the titular nation consider their Moldovan identity as their central political one but their Romanian identity as culturally essential. Since discussions on unification with Romania have disappeared from the public agenda, the question of how to form a multi-ethnic nation-state is growing in importance.
Ethnic Relations. Bessarabia has always been a multiethnic region, and ethnic relations generally are considered good. Especially in the north, Moldovans and Ukrainians have lived together peacefully for centuries and share cultural features. In recent history, Moldova has rarely experienced ethnic violence; in April 1903, for example, 49 Jews were killed and several hundred injured during the Chişinău pogrom, but mainly by Russians rather than Moldovans. In the late 1980s, when support for the national movement began to grow, ethnic tension between Moldovans and non-Moldovans increased, initially in Transdniestria and Gagauzia and later in Chişinău and Bălţi. Whereas the conflict between Gagauz and Moldovans was kept below the level of large-scale violence, the Transdniestrian conflict escalated into a full-fledged civil war in spring 1992. More than a thousand people were said to have been killed, and over a hundred thousand had to leave their homes. Although this conflict had a strong ethnic component, it was not ethnic by nature; it was fought mainly between the new independence-minded political elite in Chişinău and conservative pro-Soviet forces in Tiraspol. Moldovans and non-Moldovans could be found on both sides. On the right bank of the Dniestr, where the majority of the Russian-speaking community lives, no violent clashes took place. Since the war, additional efforts have been made to include non-Moldovans in the nation-building process. The 1994 constitution and subsequent legislation safeguarded the rights of minorities, and in the same year broad autonomous powers were granted to the Gagauz.
Urbanism, Architecture, and the Use of Space
Chişinău's city center was constructed in the nineteenth century by Russians. Official buildings and those erected by the early bourgeoisie are in a neoclassical style of architecture; there are also many small one-story houses in the center, and the outskirts are dominated by typical Soviet-style residential buildings. Small towns (mainly enlarged villages) also have examples of Soviet-style administration buildings and apartment blocks. Depending on their original inhabitants, villages have typical Moldovan, Ukrainian, Gagauz, Bulgarian, or German houses and a Soviet-style infrastructure (cultural center, school, local council buildings). Houses have their own gardens and usually their own vineyards and are surrounded by low metal ornamented bars. Interaction differs in urban and rural areas. In the villages, people are open and greet passersby without prior acquaintance; in the cities, there is a greater anonymity, although people interact with strangers in certain situations, for example, on public transportation.
Food and Economy
Food Customs at Ceremonial Occasions. Orthodox Christian baptisms, funerals, and weddings are accompanied by large gatherings where several meat and vegetable dishes, desserts, and cakes as well as wine are served. Homemade vodka and brandy also are offered. At Easter, a special bread, pasca , is baked in every household, and eggs are painted in various colors. Families go to the graveyard to celebrate their dead kin; they eat food at the graves while drinking wine and offering it to each other as they remember the dead.
Basic Economy. The national currency is the leu (100 bani ). Besides gypsum and very small gas and oil reserves, the country has no natural resources and is totally dependent on energy imports, mainly from Russia. Moldova has experienced a sharp downturn in its economy in the last ten years. In 1998, the gross domestic product (GDP) was 35 percent of the 1989 level, and the state is unable to pay pensions and salaries on time. As a result, more people produce food and other necessities for themselves now than in the 1980s. This includes virtually the entire rural population and many city dwellers who own small gardens in the countryside. The parallel economy is estimated to account for 20 to 40 percent of the GDP.
Land Tenure and Property. During the Soviet period, there was no private land, only state-owned collective farms. Since 1990, as part of the transition to a market economy, privatization of land as well as houses and apartments has taken place. However, the process is still under way and has faced fierce resistance from so-called agroindustrial complexes.
Commercial Activities. Moldova in general and Chişinău in particular have many traditional Balkan-style markets. There are mixed as well as specialized markets for food, flowers, spare parts, and construction materials. This "market economy" clearly outsells the regular shops. Besides foodstuffs, which are partially home-grown, all products are imported. These types of commercial activities are flourishing because of market liberalization and the economic downturn. Many educated specialists find it easier to earn money through commercial activities than by practicing their professions.
Major Industries. Industry is concentrated in the food-processing sector, wine making, and tobacco. Other fields include electronic equipment, machinery, textiles, and shoes. The small heavy industry sector includes a metallurgical plant in Transdniestria that produces high-quality steel.
Trade. The main trade partners are Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Romania, and Germany. Russia and other Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries accounted for 69 percent of exports and 58 percent of imports in 1998. Exports are mainly agroindustrial products (72 percent), especially wine, but also include shoes and textiles (12 percent). The main import goods are mineral products (31 percent), machinery and electronic equipment (19 percent), and chemical products (12 percent). To realign foreign trade away from Russia and toward Western European and other countries, Moldova has constructed an oil terminal on the Danube and is seeking closer economic ties with Romania and the European Union. It is expected to join the World Trade Organization.
Social Stratification
Symbols of Social Stratification. Newly built ornamented houses and villas, cars (especially Western cars with tinted windows), cellular telephones, and fashionable clothes are the most distinguishing symbols of wealth. Consumer goods brought from abroad (Turkey, Romania, Germany) function as status symbols in cities and rural areas.
Political Life
Government. Moldova is a democratic and unitary republic. Since the territorial-administrative reform of 1999, it has been divided into ten districts ( judeţe ) and the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia. A special status is envisaged for the Transdniestrian region. The political system is mixed parliamentary-presidential, with the parliament (one hundred one representatives) and president both directly elected for a four-year period. The prime minister is appointed by the president only after the minister and his or her cabinet have received a vote of confidence from the parliamentary majority. The rights of the president to dissolve the parliament are very restricted. Some executive powers are vested in the president's hands: he or she can issue decrees and has special powers in defense and foreign policy. The delicate balance of power between parliament, government, and president is held to be responsible for the relatively high level of democracy as well as the blocking of important reform projects. Consequently, there have been discussions aimed at strengthening the powers of the president. Judicial powers are vested in the courts.
Leadership and Political Officials. Patrimonial structures and the Orthodox tradition of godfatherhood have strong political implications. Personal networks established over the years help people gain political posts, but such contacts also make them responsible for redistributing resources to the people who have backed them. Although kinship has a certain influence on these personal networks, relationships established in other ways during education and earlier work may be more important. Today's political forces have their roots either in the Moldovan Communist Party or in the national movement of the 1980s. The national movement started with the creation of the Alexe Mateevici Cultural Club in 1988 as an intellectual opposition group. In less than a year, it evolved into a broad mass movement known as the Popular Front of Moldova. Although the party system has experienced striking fluctuations in the last ten years, the main political forces have in essence remained the same. The Communist Party, whose place was taken temporarily by the Agrarian Democratic Party, is still one of the strongest political players. It has a mixed ethnic background and is backed mainly by the agroindustrial complexes. It is opposed to privatization and other reforms and strongly favors the idea of "Moldovanism." At the opposite end of the political spectrum are the Christian Democratic Popular Front and the Party of Democratic Forces. Both derive directly from the Moldovan national movement and have no former communists in their ranks. The Front favors unification with Romania and advocates liberal market reforms and democratization. The Party of Democratic Forces also favors stronger ties with Romania and the West but has abandoned the idea of unification; it too blends market reforms with social democratic ideas. The former president, Mircea Snegur (1992–1996), a previous Communist Party secretary and the "father" of Moldovan independence, has been joined in his Party for Rebirth and Reconciliation by other former communists who switched to the national movement early on. Petru Lucinschi, who was elected president in 1996, held high posts in the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and has extensive, well-established connections among the social-democrat-oriented former political elite. Unlike Snegur, he and the parties associated with him are widely trusted by non-Moldovan voters. In Moldovan politics everybody knows each other and personal interests, sympathies, and antipathies as well as tactical reshuffles play an important role.
Social Problems and Control. The economic crisis resulted in an increase in poverty, theft, and petty and large-scale racketeering. Illegal cultivation of opium poppies and cannabis takes place on a limited basis, with both being trafficked to other CIS countries and Western Europe. In the villages, where people relate to one another in a less anonymous way, hearsay and gossip are effective tools of social control.
Military Activity. The army consists of 8,500 ground and air defense troops and has no tanks. As a landlocked country, Moldova has no navy, and after it sold nearly its entire fleet of MIG-29 fighters to the United States in 1997, it was left practically without an air force. The 1999 budget allocated only $5 million to defense spending, 2 percent of the total budget. The Republic of Moldova takes part in the NATO Partnership for Peace Program but has no plans to join either NATO or the CIS military structure. Although it is a neutral country and the constitution rules out the stationing of foreign military forces on Moldovan soil, Russian troops are still stationed in Transdniestria.
Social Welfare and Change Programs
A system of social security covering unemployment benefits, health care, and pensions for the elderly and the disabled as well as assistance for low-income families has been set up. However, the level of social benefits is very low, and they are not paid in time because of the socioeconomic crisis. National and international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) aid orphans and street children.
Nongovernmental Organizations and Other Associations
Several international NGOs are active, especially in the fields of human rights and development. There are several local NGOs, most of which are small and inefficient. A Contact Center tries to coordinate the activities of the Moldovan NGO community. NGOs are frequently politically biased and get involved in political campaigns. Many NGO activists often see their organizations principally as vehicles for the pursuit of their own interests.
Gender Roles and Statuses
Division of Labor by Gender. Women in both urban and rural areas carry the burden of domestic duties and child care in addition to working outside the home. As a result of tradition and economic necessity, women engage in domestic food-processing activities in the summer to provide home-canned food for the winter months.
Marriage, Family, and Kinship
Marriage. When a young couple decides to marry, it is not unusual for the girl to go to her boyfriend's house and stay there. The next day her parents are informed about this, and the families come together to agree on the marriage. It can take a couple of months before the civil and religious wedding ceremonies are held. Divorce is common, and many women have to earn a living on their own after being abandoned by their husbands without the marriage being officially dissolved.
Domestic Unit. Newlyweds usually live together with the groom's parents until they can build a house in the village or rent an apartment in town. In the villages, there is a general rule of ultimogeniture (the youngest son and his family live with the parents, and he inherits the contents of the household).
Inheritance. Inheritance is regulated by law. Children inherit equally from their parents, although males may inherit the house of their parents if they live in the same household.
Kin Groups. Relatives support each other in performing agricultural and other tasks as well as ceremonial obligations. The godparenthood system regulates the mutual obligations between the parties. Godparents are responsible for the children they baptize throughout life-cycle rituals, especially marriage and the building of a house. Godparenthood is inherited between generations; however, it is also common for this role to be negotiated independently of previous ties.
Socialization
Infant Care. Babies are taken care of by their mothers and grandmothers. In villages, babies are wrapped in blankets during the very early months, and cloth diapers are used. Toddlers walk around freely, and their clothes are changed when they wet themselves.
Child Rearing and Education. Children generally grow up close to their grandparents, who teach them songs and fairy tales. Girls are expected to help their mothers from an early age and also take care of smaller siblings. A good child is expected to be God-fearing and shy and does not participate in adult conversations without being asked to do so.
Higher Education. A few universities remain from the Soviet period, together with about fifty technical and vocational schools. As a result of economic difficulties, people sometimes complete higher education in their late thirties, after establishing a family. The College of Wine Culture is a popular educational institution that offers high-quality training.
It is proper to drink at least a symbolic amount of wine during a meal or in a ritual context to honor the host and toast the health of the people present. Occasionally in villages, toasting with the left hand may not be regarded as proper. It is improper to blow one's nose at the table. Smoking in private homes is an uncommon practice; both hosts and guests usually go outside or onto the balcony to smoke. In villages, it is highly improper for women to smoke in public. People usually acknowledge passersby in the villages irrespective of previous acquaintance.
Religious Beliefs. The majority of the population, including non-Moldovans, are Orthodox Christians (about 98 percent). There are a small number of Uniates, Seventh-Day Adventists, Baptists, Pentecostalists, Armenian Apostolics, and Molokans. Jews have engaged in religious activities after independence with a newly opened synagogue and educational institutions.
Religious Practitioners. During the interwar period, Moldovans belonged to the Romanian Orthodox Church, but they now belong to the Russian Orthodox Church. There is an ongoing debate about returning to the Bucharest Patriarchate. Priests play an important role in the performance of ritual activities. In the villages, there are female healers who use Christian symbols and practices to treat the sick.
Rituals and Holy Places. The Orthodox calendar dictates rules and celebrations throughout the year, such as Christmas, Easter, and several saints' days. Some of the rules include fasting or avoiding meat and meat fat as well as restrictions on washing, bathing, and working at particular times. Baptisms, weddings, and funerals are the most important life-cycle rituals and are combined with church attendance and social gatherings. Easter is celebrated in the church and by visiting the graveyards of kin. Candles are an inseparable part of rituals; people buy candles when they enter the church and light them in front of the icons or during rituals.
Death and the Afterlife. The dead are dressed in their best clothes. Ideally, the corpse is watched over for three days and visited by relatives and friends. A mixture of cooked wheat and sugar called colivă is prepared and offered to the guests. If possible, the ninth, twentieth, and fortieth days; the third, sixth, and ninth months; and the year after the death are commemorated. However, this usually depends on the religiosity and financial resources of the people concerned. Graveyards are visited often, wine is poured on the graves, and food and colivă are distributed in memory of the dead.
Medicine and Health Care
Modern medicine is widely used. Health care is poor because of the state of the economy.
Secular Celebrations
The Arts and Humanities
Support for the Arts. In the Soviet period, state funds provided workshops for painters and other artists, who were guaranteed a regular income. This practice has ceased, and funds for workshops and other financial support are very limited. However, artists have better opportunities to sell to foreigners and the new business elites. National and international sponsors provide more encouragement for artistic activity than does the state.
Literature. The most important work of early literature is the ballad Mioriţa . Oral literature and folklore were prevalent until the nineteenth century. This and the classical Moldovan literature of the nineteenth century can hardly be distinguished from Romanian literature. The greatest Romanian writer, Mihai Eminescu, was born in the western part of Moldova and is perceived by Moldovans as part of their national heritage. Other renowned Moldovan writers include Alexei Mateevici, the author of the poem " Limba noastră ;" the playwright Vasile Alecsandri; the novelist Ion Creangă and the historian Alexandru Hâjdeu. Ion Druţa, Nicolae Dabija, Leonida Lari, Dumitru Matcovschi, and Grigorie Vieru are regarded as the greatest contemporary writers and poets.
Graphic Arts. Besides the painted monasteries around Suceava (Romania), sixteenth-century icons are the oldest examples of Moldovan graphic arts. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the sculptor Alexandru Plămădeală and the architect A. Şciusev added their work to the heritage of Bessarabian arts. Bessarabian painters of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries concentrated on landscapes and rural themes as well as typical motifs of Soviet realism. Since the recent changes, however, young modern artists such as Valeriu Jabinski, Iuri Matei, Andrei Negur, and Gennadi Teciuc have demonstrated the potential and quality of Moldovan art.
The State of the Physical and Social Sciences
The Academy of Science was the traditional place for research in Soviet Moldova. In an agricultural country, particular stress was placed on agriculture-related sciences, and a special Agricultural University was established for the education of specialists and for research in that field. After the political transition, the State University was reorganized and private universities, focusing mainly on economic subjects, were established.
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—H ÜLYA D EMIRDIREK AND C LAUS N EUKIRCH
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When the territory of Moldova became a part of the Roman Empire around 117 A.D., many of its existing traditions and customs changed and adopted the traits of Roman culture, even the language changed radically under the influence of Latin. But let’s take a break from this anthropological discourse and move on to the more common side of the question. Moldovan traditions are best evidenced in such areas as national music and dances, national foods, handcrafts, customs related to weddings, engagements, and baptizing, Christmas and Easter, as well as some interesting pagan rituals like Martsishor. The most eloquent traditions in Moldova are those related to weddings, engagements, and baptizing. At this type of events many bright aspects of Moldova’s cultural heritage are presented – starting from the order in which the guests are to be seated and ending with the dishes in which the food is served. An authentic Moldovan wedding cannot take place without national music and dances. After having drank a considerable amount of wine the guests start dancing the Hora. Hora is a national dance that requires a relatively large group of people to hold hands and form a circle. There can be several circles one inside of the other, all moving in opposite directions. All this dancing is accompanied by live music. The most popular Moldovan musical instruments are ţîmbal, cimpoi, fluer, nai, cobza, and toba. The rhythm of Moldovan national music is generally upbeat and joyful, however many slower lyrical motives are present. One of the primary sources of Moldovan national music is the Doina. Doina is a lyrical song which appeared on the territory of Moldova before the invasion of the Romans around 100 A.D. This song is somewhat bitter and mellow and is usually sung in moments of grief and mourning. Another popular musical tradition is Colinda, which appeared during the birth of Christianity. Colinda can be both used as a noun and a verb representing the action of singing a Colinda. The process of Colinda entails a group of people going from door to door dressed in national clothes, with masks and animal furs, singing song, playing music and dancing in exchange for symbolic gift in the form of food, drink, or some crafted items. Colinda in Moldova is related to the Slavic "Kolyadka" and has both religious and pagan routes. Moldova is located in favorable climate conditions which permits the successful cultivation of various fruits and vegetables. The country has also developed sheep and goat herding since B.C times. The Moldovan national foods are abundant in both vegetable and meat recipes. One of the best known Moldovan national dishes is Mamaliga –a sort of porridge served with diced meat, sour cream, cottage cheese, eggs, and mujdei. Other popular foods are prepared from eggplant, peas, bell peppers, lamb, mutton, veal, pork, and rabbit meat. Imprints of grape vine found on the territory of Moldova show that grapes grew here as early as 6 million years ago. The improvement of political relations with the Greeks at the end of III B.C. and the coming of the Romans only accelerated the development of winemaking in Moldova. Wine became the major export during the middle ages. Traditional strains are Fateasca Alba, Fateasca Neagra, Rara Neagra, Galbena, Plavai, and others. Moldova also cultivates strains from France such as Pinot Noir, Pinot Blanc, Aligote, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Muscat. Until this day private (household) wine making is very widespread and no national holiday can be conducted without lots of good Moldovan wine. The most appreciated strains are those originating in Moldova –Fateasca Alba, Fateasca Regala, and Rara Neagra are served at the royal courts of Great Britain and Denmark. One of the most ancient traditions in Moldova is pottery and ceramics crafts in general. Ceramic items are still popular today and are widely used in households. The best known pot types are ulcior, burlui, oala, and gavanos. Ceramic pots are used both to preserve and prepare traditional foods. For example Ghiveci, a traditional Moldovan recipe, is prepared in a ceramic closed bowl placed in the oven and roasted.
What distinguishes Moldovan ceramics is the ornament embossed on the pots, bowls, and jugs. It is a simple ornament consisting of lines, dots, and circle placed in such a way that provides uniqueness and originality. Traditional traits can be seen in the form, the colors, ornament, and the technique of ceramics. Another area of traditional craft is woodcarving. Important witnesses of national mastery are household items such as tables, chairs, shelves, chests, spindles, shanks, etc. Wood carving of building columns is also popular; some very intricate carves can be witnessed in porches, window frames, and doors. To truly enjoy the beauty and mastery of traditional wood carvers you need to visit Calarasi, Straseni, or Rezina regions in Moldova. Embroidery is a traditional women craft of Moldova and until recently there was not a single household in a single village where women did not decorate handmade clothes, curtains, tablecloths, and towels. The most impressive ornamentation is that of women’s blouses; the ornament is placed in such a way that it highlights the proportions of the body and the constructive expression of the item. Some of the most frequent motives are of floral nature, but zoomorphic and anthropomorphic patterns can be seen as well. Embroidery is popular among many cultures; however the Moldovan art is distinguished through the colorful ornamental themes. Ornaments such as rivers, chickens, butterflies, ram horns and the path of the Ceban (an ancient name for herder) are most common. The same pattern can be called with different names depending on the intention of the crafter. The principles of ornamentation of carpets are similar to those used in embroidery, wood carving and pottery –sequencing of zigzag patterns in red, golden, blue and black colors. The artistic level of traditional Moldovan embroidery can be witness by visiting the historic-cultural museum in Chisinau, Moldova. One of the spring traditions in Moldova is called Martisor. On the first of March, the first day of spring, it is customary in Moldova to give to give the gift Martisor. Martisor is the name of the holiday and the name of the decoration. A Martisor is a small decoration that resembles a brooch and is usually worn next to the heart. The main characteristic of the Martisor is the combination of red and white colors; and it can be just a thread worn around the wrist, or on a chain around the neck. According to the old legend, when the first snowdrop flower fought its way through the snow, spring started helping it moving the thorns from around it. Seeing this winter became angry and raised some very strong wind to suppress the spring’s effort and so spring was wounded by a thorn. A drop of red blood on white snow symbolizes the victory of spring over winter. Martisors are usually worn all March and then hanged on trees while making a wish. The legend says that the wishes will come true.
Roamopedia.com Exploring Moldovan Culture: Traditions, Customs, Language, and Etiquette
 The landlocked Eastern European country of Moldova hosts a population of around 3,437,720 inhabitants. Ethnic Moldovans comprise 75.1% of the total population of the country. Romanians, Ukrainians, Russians, Bulgarians, and others constitute the rest of the country’s population. 90.1% of the population adhere to Orthodox Christianity. 5. Cuisine in MoldovaThe country's cuisine mainly features traditional European foods like pork, beef, cabbage, cereals, and potatoes. Vast tracts of fertile soil also allow the cultivation of a number of fruits and vegetables that find their way into the Moldovan cuisine. The mămăligă (a type of porridge) is a staple of the cuisine and is usually served with meat dishes or stews. Sour cream, cheese, or pork rind are used to garnish it. Other popular food items include the ghiveci (a goat or lamb stew) and brânză (brined cheese), beef meatballs, grilled pork, stuffed cabbage rolls, noodles, chicken, etc. Cuisines of the ethnic minorities are predominant in certain areas of the country where the respective minority communities live in large numbers. For example, meat-filled dumplings called pelmeni are eaten by the Russian community, and a mutton soup called shorpa is consumed by the Gagauz peoples. Beer, Moldovan brandy, and local wine are popular alcoholic beverages. Fruit juice and stewed-fruit compotes are widely consumed non-alcoholic beverages. 4. Literature and Graphic Arts in MoldovaPrior to the development of written literature, oral literature was prevalent in the country in the form of folk legends, fairy tales, historical songs, heroic epics, ballads, lyrical songs, etc. The first written records in the form of historical and sacred texts appeared in the country in the Old Church Slavonic language. Secular literature developed in Moldova at around the end of the 17th century. The Romanian and Moldovan literature of this time exhibits significant overlap. Paintings in monasteries and 16th-century icons are the oldest examples of Moldovan art. Bessarabian arts flourished in the 19th and 20th centuries. Such art concentrated on rural themes and landscapes. Today, Moldovan artists explore various genres of art. The presence of art galleries and art schools throughout Moldova encourage young artists to pursue their career in art. 3. Performing Arts in MoldovaThe music tradition of Moldova is closely related to that of its neighbor, Romania . Folk and classical music are popular in the country while jazz is also widely performed. The folk music of the country is associated with syncopation, complex and swift rhythms, and melodic ornamentation. O-Zone is a popular Moldovan pop band. Folk music and dance performances are held during cultural festivals and ceremonies. Rock and pop concerts are held in urban areas and are popular among the Moldovan youth. 2. Sports in MoldovaFootball is the most popular sports in Moldova. The Zimbru Stadium in Chișinău serves as the home ground of the country’s national football team. Moldova also performs well in basketball and its national team has earned some success in the FIBA European Championship for Small Countries. Cycling is also an important sport in Moldova. The Moldova President's Cup is a prestigious annual cycling race held in the country. Moldovan sportsmen in the fields of boxing, canoeing, shooting, and wrestling have won some Olympic medals for the country. 1. Life in a Moldovan SocietyThe Moldovan law provides men and women equal rights and freedoms. Members of both genders work outside the home. However, women are usually expected to manage the household chores and children in addition to their jobs. While men have higher decision-making power than women, the latter act as organizers in daily life. Marriages are generally based on romantic relationships. Once the couple decides to marry, families are usually involved to agree on the marriage. Divorces are not uncommon in a Moldovan society. Residences are primarily patrilocal in nature. The newlyweds live with the family of the groom. Later, they might move out if they build a home elsewhere. In the rural areas, the traditional society maintains the rule that the youngest son inherits the paternal home but he has to take care of his elderly parents. Mothers and other female members of the family take care of the children. Grandparent-grandchildren relationships are highly valued in Moldovan society. While the urban Moldovan society closely resembles that in many parts of the Western world, more traditional ways of life are visible in the rural areas of the country. In villages, the sight of women smoking in public is frowned upon. Men refrain from smoking inside the home and consider it polite to go outside to smoke. People in villages greet each other with respect and politeness. More in Society Alan Watts' Guide To The Meaning Of Life Did Nietzsche Believe In Free Will? Is Metaphysics The Study Of Philosophy Or Science? 5 Islamic Scientific Ideas That Changed The World The Most Popular Sports in the United States How Many Countries Compete in the Olympics? The Largest Standing Armies of the European Union The Most Influential Islamic Philosophers
Get Involved Special Issue 2024 Exhibition Opening: Louder than Hearts, Women Photographers from the Arab World and Iran Annual Gala Dinner Internships Understanding Moldova’s ethnic dynamics: Minority rights, external influence, and pathways to unityElena Cirmizi  This work derives from a final report produced for the Middle East Institute’s Black Sea Program as part of a U.S. State Department Title VIII fellowship. Moldova is a country with a rich tapestry of multiple ethnic identities and linguistic traditions, where policymakers have long grappled with the complexities of preserving minority rights, fostering national unity, and addressing regional autonomy through engagement with the Gagauz minority (Tudoroiu, 2013, p. 375; Ciobanu, 2013; Deen & Zweers, 2022). The following analysis aims to view these issues from the perspective of the minority’s susceptibility to external political influence. Within the frame of the study, I interviewed 20 local Gagauz and Moldovan experts, including journalists, political activists, educators, and university students. Based on the data obtained during those in-depth interviews, I offer insight into the primary tension points between the Gagauz community and the central Moldovan government that are being exploited by Russian state-sponsored propaganda; based on my conclusions, I aim to influence the local political landscape and offer a range of policy solutions that can bridge the gaps in the country’s ethnic makeup while building resistance to external influence and propaganda. These solutions are centered around supporting educational initiatives, enhancing the quality of local media, and encouraging inter-community dialogue that recognizes the inherent value of linguistic and cultural diversity while also nurturing a shared national identity that transcends ethnic differences. Gagauzia’s historical legacy Gagauz-Yeri (Gagauzia) is an autonomous region in the south of Moldova with a predominantly Gagauz (a Turkic ethnic group), Christian Orthodox, but heavily russified population. The region gained its autonomous status in 1994 as a result of negotiations between the Moldovan government and the Gagauz leadership following tensions and conflicts between the two sides in the early 1990s. However, for the past 30 years, the implementation of autonomy has been fraught with legal and social challenges, with debates over the distribution of powers and competencies between the central government and the autonomous region (Thompson, 1998, pp. 128-147; Wöber, 2013, p. 14; Deen & Zweers, 2022, pp. 32-33 ). The majority of the Gagauz community perceives the central government’s actions as a continuous assault on their autonomy rights, eroding them through a range of executive and legislative actions that affect tax, penal, and security policies (Nitup, 2018; Garciu, 2022; Monitorul Official, 2023; Parlament.md, 2023; Yarovaya, 2023), and where the central government raises concerns about preserving national unity and preventing separatist inclinations (RFE, 2014; Yarovaya, 2023). Within this context, the role of Russian media propaganda and the susceptibility of the Gagauz community to its influence is frequently discussed. (Deen & Zweers, 2022, pp 32-33; Title VIII of the MEI Black Sea Program interviews, Chișinău, Comrat, June-July 2023). Gagauz-Yeri, shaped by its historical, cultural, and linguistic journey, has traditionally maintained a strong alignment with the Russian Federation, translating into Russian influence over societal, political, and economic trajectories in the region. Rooted in cultural and historical foundations, Gagauz identity is linked to memories of being embraced by the Russian Empire and later the Soviet Union, in contrast to a history of enforced assimilation during the Romanian kingdom. This perceived historical context has engendered the Gagauz’s connection with the “Russian world” — a concept actively popularized by Russian propaganda that claims the existence of a shared transborder identity held together by usage of the Russian language or common culture (Kosienkowski, 2021). Within this context, the vast majority of the interviewees in my study expressed concerns about the negative impact that rebroadcasted Russian state media has on Gagauz internal affairs. According to the 2022 Ethnobarometer survey, 73% of local respondents who identify as ethnic Gagauz and 47% who identify as Moldovans consume Russian state-controlled media (Ethnobarometer, 2020). Russian media influence extends to public opinion within Moldova, intensifying existing tensions, framing issues in a way that serve Moscow’s political interests, and fostering favorable sentiments among the population by advocating for closer ties with Russia that allegedly will offer greater benefits for the Gagauz community and Moldova as a whole (McGrath & Jardan, 2022). Most respondents noted that specific tactics encompass discrediting the Moldovan government by depicting it as ineffective, corrupt, overly liberal, or indifferent to minority language rights (Haines, 2015; Perevozkina, 2023, Title VIII of the MEI Black Sea Program interviews, Chișinău, Comrat, June-July 2023). Such portrayals reportedly generate skepticism among Gagauz regarding the government’s policies and add complexity to the existing challenges, making it even more important for the central government to engage in careful, informed dialogue and decision-making rather than ignoring the tensions or acting in a heavy-handed manner (Deen & Zweers, 2022, p. 32). Relations with the Moldovan state The discourse concerning language use in the region stands as a pivotal point in the relationship between the Gagauz minority and the Moldovan state and is a key defense against external influence. On the surface, the issue revolves around the acknowledgment, utilization, and advancement of the Gagauz language, encompassing its standing in official contexts and educational institutions. Moldova recognized the Gagauz language as a minority language under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ratified in 2001), taking on the obligation to protect and promote the Gagauz language’s usage and visibility in public life. However, according to a 2010 UNESCO study, the Gagauz language has been identified as “potentially vulnerable” (Garciu, 2023). All Gagauz experts and students interviewed in the course of this research project directly linked their ethnic identity with the language and expressed apprehension about their language’s potential erosion. When queried about potential solutions, Gagauz interviewees grappled with identifying the optimal equilibrium between utilizing Russian as a lingua franca, the state language, and fostering the development of their native tongue, blaming the vulnerability of Gagauz on a lack of educational and media resources, russification, and its limited economic viability beyond the region. They also noted the Moldovan state’s lack of action and interest in supporting autonomy across these domains (see also European Commission, 2022). These concerns are intricately connected in their responses to the simultaneous decades of inaction in supporting state language education in Gagauzia. The lack of Romanian as a second language curriculum, the absence of language teachers, and the dismissal of the appeals from the community for additional support in establishing alternative education channels for the Romanian language led to the proliferation of the Russian language within the region, consequently providing fertile ground for the unprecedented domination of Russian state propaganda within the community. Recommendations To contribute to the ongoing dialogue surrounding language usage in Gagauz-Yeri while countering external propaganda efforts, I present several policy initiatives that seek to illuminate a path toward constructive cooperation and the preservation of minority rights within the larger framework of national unity. These programs include a multilingual curriculum, summer language institutes, and in-state and foreign cultural exchange initiatives, and will represent proactive efforts to bridge the linguistic divide, encourage cross-cultural understanding, and build up community resilience. Multilingual primary education as an implemented education strategy could allow students to receive primary education in dual Romanian and Gagauz (and other local minority languages) to establish appropriate communication patterns during preschool, kindergarten, and elementary school. This approach acknowledges the importance of both languages while ensuring that students from both communities have access to education in their native language. It is necessary to emphasize multilingualism in education instead of bilingualism, and provide Russian- and English-language education as second-language subjects, to ensure that Russian speakers among the regional population do not reject the initiative. This initiative will necessitate dedicated staffing in schools, which would enhance employment opportunities for Gagauz speakers and can be achieved by cooperation between the local and central government, building upon the vast experience of Moldovan-Turkish lyceums in Moldova (Moldpress, 2022). Language summer institutes could serve as stress-free, immersive environments where children from diverse backgrounds can come together to learn and practice each other’s languages. These initiatives could offer a dynamic learning experience that goes beyond linguistic skills, fostering interpersonal exchange while building relationships and breaking down stereotypes. Similarly, exchange professional programs for youth and educators, such as librarians and school teachers, can facilitate interactions and create opportunities for shared experiences, cultural immersion, and the formation of lasting bonds. Having vast experience with a multilingual population, organizations from the United States could provide valuable resources, expertise, and scholarships for students and teachers. Promoting cultural and linguistic heritage through the recognition of different minority identities is foundational to developing resilience to external propaganda. A comprehensive historical acknowledgment of traumas and reconciliation initiatives is essential for addressing grievances and fostering empathy. By establishing educational programs, seminars, research, and exhibitions as well as modifying school and university curricula that offer accurate historical representations of minorities, including Gagauz, as an essential part of society, state agencies along with local and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) can facilitate and popularize a nuanced understanding of minorities’ complex pasts. The integration of such narratives into education curricula can effectively build a bridge between the communities, breaking through their divide and making them less vulnerable to propaganda. The U.S., through its educational institutions and local NGOs, could encourage such initiatives and provide financial support for cultural exchange programs. Scholarships, grants, and partnerships with U.S. universities will facilitate the development of inclusive history, language curricula, and research projects. Furthermore, U.S. cultural diplomacy initiatives, such as art exhibitions, performances, and educational events, could be organized in collaboration with local communities to celebrate their uniqueness and emphasize the importance of historical acknowledgment and reconciliation. Promoting balanced media coverage and ensuring the visibility of the Gagauz community requires a concerted effort to address linguistic, cultural, and regional diversity. Encouraging media organizations to have diverse editorial and journalist teams that include representatives from different ethnic and linguistic backgrounds, including Gagauz, will contribute to fostering more inclusive and impartial news coverage, leading to ethical reporting that actively combats biases and prevents the exploitation of stereotypes. Moreover, supporting the establishment of multiple local news desks in Gagauzia that focus on covering regional news, events, and minority cultural stories will ensure regular coverage of the local activities and human interest stories from the Gagauz community and will give a platform for representation, increase visibility nationally, and help foster a sense of community and pride. Publishing multilingual materials that include both Romanian and Gagauz languages as well as providing subtitles for TV and YouTube content will ensure that Moldovan and Gagauz news segments are available to the entire population while catering to the linguistic needs of the minority community — providing a viable alternative to Russian media outlets. International organizations and the state can provide grants and financial support for local actors to own such initiatives. By implementing these diverse methods, local journalists can be enabled to generate content with the potential to counter Russian propaganda, contributing to the cultivation of an informed and resilient society. Elena Cirmizi is a Title VIII Black Sea Research Fellow at the Middle East Institute and a Ph.D. candidate at the Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University. Andrei Pungovschi/Bloomberg via Getty Images BibliographyCiobanu, V. (2013). “Tendințe separatiste printre găgăuzi.” [Separatist trends among the Gagauz]. Europa Libera. http://www.europalibera.org/content/article/25069011.html Deen, B. and W. Zweers. (2022). Walking the tightrope towards the EU. Clingendael Report. Netherlands Institute of International Relations. Ethnobarometer Moldova – 2020. (2020). CIVIS Centre. OSCE. pp. 59-61. https://www.osce.org/files/f/documents/0/7/505306_0.pdf European Commission. (2022). “Opinion on Moldova’s application for membership of the European Union,” from June 16. https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/policies/enlargement/moldova/ Garciu, P. (2022). “Russian Propaganda Dominates Moldova’s Gagauzia.” Institute for War & Peace Reporting. https://iwpr.net/global-voices/russian-propaganda-dominates-moldovas-ga… . Garciu, P. (2023). “Moldova: Gagauz language lags behind Russian.” Institute for War & Peace Reporting. https://iwpr.net/global-voices/moldova-gagauz-language-lags-behind-russ… Haines, J.R. (2015). “A quarrel in a faraway country: the rise of a Budzhak People’s Republic.” Foreign Policy Research Institute. https://www.fpri.org/article/2015/04/a-quarrel-in-a-far-away-country-th… Kosienkowski, M. (2021). The Russian World as a legitimation strategy outside Russia: the case of Gagauzia. Eurasian Geography and Economics 62. No. 3. Moldpress. (2022). PM visits Moldovan-Turkish theoretical lyceum from Congaz settlement of Gagauzia. https://www.moldpres.md/en/news/2022/10/21/22007943 Monitorul Oficial. (2023). No. 53-56, pp. 11-12. MsGrath, S. and C. Jardan. (2022). “Moldova suspends 6 TV channels over alleged misinformation.” AP News . https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-public-opinion-moldova-741940… Nitup, R. (2018). “Gagauzia: Moldavskie oligarhi protiv “russkih tankov” [Gaguzia: Moldovan oligarchs against Russian tanks.]. New Day News. https://newdaynews.ru/kishinev/627636.html . Accessed 04.02.2018. Parlament.md. (2023). Proiectul de lege pentru modificarea art. 6 din Codul fiscal nr. 1163/1997. https://www.parlament.md/ProcesulLegislativ/Proiectedeactelegislative/t… Perevozkina, M. (2023). “Politolog Soin otsenil veroyatnost’ otdeleniya Gagauzii ot Moldovy.” [Political scientist Soin assessed the likelihood of Gagauzia secession from Moldova]. Moskovskij Komsomolets. Radio Free Europe. (2014). “Gagauzia voters reject closer EU ties for Moldova.” Radio Liberty. Moldovan Service. https://www.rferl.org/a/moldova-gagauz-referendum-counting/25251251.html Thompson, P. (1998). “The Gagauz in Moldova and their road to autonomy.” In Managing diversity in plurar societies – minorities, migration and nation-building in post-Communist Europe. M. Opalski. (Ed.) Nepean Forum Eastern Europe. 128-147. Tudoroiu, T. (2013). Unfreezing failed frozen conflicts: A post-Soviet case study. Journal of Contemporary European Studies, 24 (3), 375-396. Wöber, S. (2013). Making or breaking the Republic of Moldova? The autonomy of Gagauzia. European Diversity and Autonomy Papers. p.14. Yarovaya, G. (2024). “Subject to the criminal code of the Republic of Moldova: Konstantinov filed a complaint with the prosecutor’s office for separatist statements.” Rupor.md. https://rupor.md/podpadaet-pod-uk-rm-na-konstantinova-podali-zhalobu-v-… The Middle East Institute (MEI) is an independent, non-partisan, non-for-profit, educational organization. It does not engage in advocacy and its scholars’ opinions are their own. MEI welcomes financial donations, but retains sole editorial control over its work and its publications reflect only the authors’ views. For a listing of MEI donors, please click here .
Moldova — History and CultureAs with many newly-independent countries, Moldova has a long history and fascinating culture which are a source of real pride for its people. The country is still struggling to rid itself of remnants of the Soviet era and to evolve with modern Europe while retaining its traditional values and unique identity. As with the rest of the Balkan region, Moldova has a history that stretches back to the original Neolithic settlers of the vast area between Ukraine’s Dniester River and beyond Romania’s Carpathian Mountains. Between the 1st and 7th centuries AD, the Romans arrived and departed several times, and numerous invasions of Goths, Avars, Huns, Bulgarians, Magyars, Mongols, and Tartars took place up until the early Middle Ages. The Principality of Moldavia was established in the mid-14th century, bound by the Black Sea and the River Danube in the south, the Carpathian Mountains in the west and the River Dneister to the east. Crimean Tartars continued their invasions until the 15th century arrival of Ottoman forces and by 1538, the country was a tributary state of the Ottoman Empire while retaining internal autonomy. The Treaty of Bucharest in 1812 saw the Ottoman Empire cede the eastern region of the principality to Russia and its renaming to the Oblast of Moldavia and Bessarabia. The Oblast was initially granted a great degree of autonomy, but between 1828 and 1871, the region saw more and more restrictions as Russification took over. The 19th century saw Russian-encouraged colonization by Cossacks, Ukrainians and other nationals and just before WWI, thousands of citizens were drafted into the Russian Army. The 1917 Russian Revolution saw the creation of the Moldavian Democratic Republic as part of a federal Russian state, but a year later, a combination of the Romanian and French armies saw independence proclaimed and Moldova united with Romania. Newly communist Russia rejected the changes, seizing power again by 1924 and forming the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, recognized by Nazi Germany in 1930. By 1941, the Axis invasions resulted in cooperation with the Germans, including the extermination or deportation of almost a million Jewish residents and the drafting of over 250,000 Moldovans into the Soviet Army. The Stalin period from 1940 saw massive deportations of Moldovan nationals, severe persecution, and forced migration of Russians to urban areas. After Stalin’s death, patriot leaders were imprisoned or murdered. The Russian Glasnost and Perestroika movements of the 1980s saw a rise in Moldovan nationalistic fervor, resulting in demands for independence, a mass rally in Chisinau in 1989, and continuing riots. By 1990, democratic elections were underway, and a Declaration of Sovereignty was signed. Despite an attempted Soviet coup in 1991, Moldova finally declared its independence and a year later was recognized by the United Nations. Although the Communist Party has struggled to retain its hold over the country, Moldova is governed by a coalition of Democratic and Liberal parties. Communism is still the leading influence in the breakaway region of Transnistria. Moldova’s rich culture goes back to Roman times, with the ancient overlay colored by Byzantine, Magyar, Serbian, Ottoman, Russian, and Soviet influences. From the 19th century onwards, European and French elements were added, forming a varied, lively and resilient lifestyle expressed in traditions, festivals, the arts, music, dance, and literature. Elements of folk culture, such as wood carving and embroidery, are shared with other Balkan countries, but many aspects, such as pottery decoration and the 2,000-year old Doina lyrical songs, are unique to Moldova. The country’s folk traditions and costumes are highly valued at a national level, and preserved in the capital’s museums, its Republic Dance Company and its choir, Doina, as well as forming part of every Moldovan celebration. The Colinda Christmas tradition of masked and costumed singers, musicians and dancers going from door to door to give performances and receive gifts bears a resemblance to the Christian tradition of carolling, but is rooted in pre-Christian pagan practices. Wine is deeply rooted in Moldovan culture, with the vineyards some of the oldest in the world, known and appreciated by the Romans and a major source of export revenue during the Middle Ages. The Moldovan Roma community has contributed to the field of music, although it is still regarded as a disadvantaged group. Most traditional cultural events relate to agriculture, religion, folklore, or mythology, and are celebrated with joy and feasting.
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Studies in Moldovan : the history, culture, language and contemporary politics of the people of Moldova
14 CitationsPublic archaeology in a nascent nation state: two decades of independence in the republic of moldova, what price languages in contact: is there russian language influence on the syntax of moldovan, cementing modernisation : transnational markets, language and labour tension in a post-soviet factory in moldova, performing hospitality in moldova: ambiguous, alternative, and undeveloped models of national identity, pluralism by default in moldova, power and opposition in the former soviet union, ce am învățat despre dialectul românesc din moldova în ultima jumătate de secol, censorship and the impact of repression on dissent, evolving europe : voices of the future, between nation and empire: russian and romanian competing visions of bessarabia in the second half of the 19 th and early 20 th century, related papers. Showing 1 through 3 of 0 Related Papers Search form In the Republic of Moldova there are many ethno-cultural associations. 18 minorities – the Ukrainians, Russians, Bulgarians, Gagauzians, Jews, Byelorussians, Poles, Germans, Gypsies, Greeks, Lithuanians, Armenians, Azerbaijanians, Tatars, Chuvashs, Italians, Koreans, Uzbeks – have associations which operate under the form of communities, societies, unions, centers, cultural foundations etc. By virtue of the principle of equality and universality of cultural legislation, the ethnic minorities have the possibility to develop their traditional culture and national art. In Chisinau there is the Russian Dramatic Theatre „A.P.Cehov”; in Ceadir-Lunga (ATU Gagauzia) – the Gagauzian Dramatic Theatre „Mihail Cekir”; in Taraclia – the Theater of the Bulgarians from Bessarabia „Olimpii Panov”.   Home Discover Moldova Culture of Moldova Culture of MoldovaThe culture of Moldova is a combination of Romanian culture and Soviet culture. The traditional Latin origins of Romanian culture reach back to the 2nd century, the period of Roman colonization in Dacia. During the centuries following the Roman withdrawal in 271, the population of the region was influenced by contact with the Byzantine Empire, neighboring Slavic, Magyar and other smaller populations, and later by the Ottoman Turks. Beginning in the nineteenth century, a strong West European (particularly French) influence came to be evident in Romanian literature and the arts. The resulting mélange has produced a rich cultural tradition. Although foreign contacts were an inevitable consequence of the region’s geography, their influence only served to enhance a vital and resilient popular culture. The population of what once was the Principality of Moldavia (1359–1859) had come to identify itself widely as “Moldovan” by the 14th century, but continued to maintain close cultural links with other Romanian groups. After 1812, the eastern Moldavians, those inhabiting Bessarabia and Transnistria, were also influenced by the Slavic culture: during the periods 1812–1917, and 1940–1989, they were influenced by Russian, respectively Soviet administrative control, as well and by ethnic Russian or Russian-speaking immigration. By 1918, Bessarabia was one of the least developed, and least educated European regions of the Russian Empire. In 1930, its literacy rate was only 40 percent, according to a Romanian census, itself a huge increase from 12 percent some 30 years earlier under the Russian Empire. Especially low was the literacy rate for women: less than 10 percent in 1918 to just under 50 percent in 1940. Although Soviet authorities promoted education (not the least to spread communist ideology), they also did everything they could to break the region’s cultural ties with Romania. With many ethnic Romanian intellectuals, either fleeing, being killed after 1940, or being deported both during and after World War II, Bessarabia’s cultural and educational situation worsened. The country became more Russified. After 1960s, Soviet authorities developed urban cultural and scientific centers and institutions that were subsequently filled with Russians, and with other non-Romanian ethnic groups, but this culture was superimposed and alien. Much of the urban culture came from Moscow; the rural ethnic Romanian population was allowed to express itself only in folklore or folk art. Folk culture of MoldovaAlthough the folk arts flourished, similarities with were hidden. Music and dance, particularly encouraged by Soviet authorities, were made into a showcase, but were subtly distorted to hide their Romanian origins. For example, the national folk costume, in which the traditional Romanian moccasin (opinca) was replaced by the Russian boot. Moldova’s traditional folk culture is very rich. The ancient folk ballads, such as “Mioriţa” and “Meşterul Manole” play a central role in this traditional culture. Folk traditions, including ceramics and weaving, continue to be practiced in rural areas. The folk culture tradition is promoted at the national level and is represented by, among other groups, the republic’s dance company, Joc, and by the folk choir, Doina.  Culture in MoldovaDiscover moldovan culture. Moldovan culture is a rich mosaic of traditions, customs and culinary delights. At the heart of this culture is Moldovan cuisine, known for its versatility and use of fresh, local ingredients, as well as the traditional festivals and customs that mark the wheel of the seasons and important life events. These elements together promote a deep understanding of the Moldovan way of life and emphasise the importance of hospitality and togetherness in Moldovan society. Don't miss any more news!Our newsletter will keep you informed and inspired for your next trip. Moldavian cuisineMoldovan cuisine is characterised by its rich variety, the use of fresh local ingredients and the influences of neighbouring countries such as Romania. It skilfully combines sweet and savoury elements, emphasises the importance of meat and vegetables and reflects a deep tradition of hospitality. Here are typical dishes that you can find in Moldovan cuisine:  Plăcinte are a traditional Moldavian pastry that can be filled with both savoury and sweet fillings. Popular fillings include cheese, potatoes, sauerkraut or apple. The dumplings are usually baked or fried and are an integral part of Moldovan cuisine. They are appreciated for their versatility and delicious flavour.  Zeamă is a classic soup of Moldavian cuisine, known for its clear, invigorating flavour. It is based on a broth, usually made from chicken, and is enriched with noodles or dumplings, carrots and parsley. Zeamă is considered beneficial and is often used as a remedy for colds.  Pârjoale moldovenești, Moldovan meatballs, are a popular speciality characterised by their juicy consistency and aromatic seasoning. They are traditionally prepared from a mixture of minced meat, onions, garlic and fine herbs and fried or baked. Pârjoals are a savoury treat that is often served with side dishes such as mămăligă, a firm porridge made from corn semolina.  Friptură moldovenească is a traditional Moldovan roast dish consisting of carefully seasoned and slow-roasted meat. Typically, beef, pork or lamb is used. The method of preparation emphasises the natural flavours of the meat and gives it a tender, juicy texture. Friptură is often served with side dishes such as jacket potatoes or fresh vegetables.  Pelmeni moldovenești are a Moldovan variation of the classic Russian dumplings, filled with a flavourful mixture of meat and spices. They are traditionally boiled or fried in broth and served with sour cream or vinegar. These delicious little parcels are a favourite part of Moldovan cuisine and offer a hearty, satisfying treat. Drinking culture in Moldova is closely linked to social traditions, with hospitality and the sharing of drinks playing a major role in family and social gatherings. Wine tastings and visits to wine cellars are an essential part of Moldovan culture and offer an insight into the country's rich history and traditions.  Moldova is known for its excellent wines and can look back on a wine-growing tradition dating back thousands of years. The country has several renowned wine regions that produce a wide range of red, white and sparkling wines. Wine festivals and wine tours are popular activities. The two walk-in and drive-in wine cellars Milestii Mici and Cricova are particularly popular. In addition to commercial wines, many families produce their own wine, including fruit wines made from apples, cherries or berries.  Moldovan herbal tea is a reflection of the country's rich flora, consisting of a variety of local herbs and flowers. The teas are valued for their aromatic properties and health benefits and are an integral part of Moldovan culture. They are traditionally enjoyed to promote relaxation and support well-being. Traditional festivals and customsMoldova, with its rich cultural history and diverse traditions, celebrates a number of traditional festivals and customs that reflect the cultural heritage and way of life of its people.  The "Day of Wine" Ziua Vinului is celebrated on the first weekend after the grape harvest in October. It is a tribute to Moldova's long winemaking tradition. Winegrowers and wineries open their doors to visitors to taste new and old vintages. Ziua Vinului is a celebration of music, dance and, of course, wine.  Easter Paștele is one of the most important Christian festivals in Moldova. Easter is celebrated with church services, the colouring of eggs and large family meals. Traditional dishes such as pasca, a sweet bread filled with cheese, play a central role in the Easter feast.  Christmas (Crăciunul) is traditionally celebrated in Moldova on 25 December and 7 January, according to the Julian calendar. It is a time of reflection, family and remembrance, characterised by special church services, the singing of Christmas carols and festive meals. Follow us now for travel tips and adventures!Don’t miss out on any of our exciting trips and experiences. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook to stay up to date.  The diverse culture of MoldovaMoldova's culture, with its rich palette of culinary treasures and living traditions, stands as a testament to the resilience and richness of this country. This cultural diversity invites you not only to visit Moldova, but to experience it and find in its traditions a deeper understanding of the beauty and complexity of human culture. Are you ready to gain new cultural impressions in Moldova? Here you can find out more about toll regulations in Moldova so that you can travel around the country stress-free. Related Articles
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Moldova with kids: An honest guide We have two toddlers and live in Chișinău. In our free time, here’s what we do. When I pick up my three- and six-year-olds from their kindergarten, we usually head straight to the park. It’s nicer to process their after-school meltdown in the fresh air and me holding a takeaway almond latte. The park Valea Morilor is where my Moldovan man took me on our first walk to impress me. He didn’t think it through. It was February and depressing. But more than eight years later, after heavy renovations and flower planting, all my foreign visitors with kids come here for a stroll by the lake. In the summertime, this is the coolest place to be. This is the Times Square of Chișinău. Except that instead of the flashy screens, there are plants and sand.
Moldova seeks global recognition for its underground worldIf you enter the park from the Telecentru district, you’ll see playgrounds and an old-school outdoor gym, which is a big hit among toddlers. Who cares about slides and swings if you have an old rusty metal pole to grab onto? The smallest kids compete for the bravest to climb to the top of the ladder while parents beg them to stop. Their hands will smell like coins for hours afterward. On the plus side, the public restroom attendant is nearby and lets kids in for free (but gets judgmental if you forget to greet her demonstratively). The tricky part is keeping the kids away from the bouncy castles someone has set up next to the playground as a side hustle. Even if I find cash for this overpriced half-an-hour fun, my kids get bored after ten minutes, and I have to spend the next twenty asking them to stay inside the giant inflated bag—and they better enjoy it. When we feel more adventurous, we head to Rose Valley Park. From Melestiu Street, you can quickly see the skate park and the kids’ favourite attraction—a multilayered climbing frame where kids run up and down like hamsters. Such a simple but genius entertainment that could be Moldova’s trademark invention!  One of our kids’ favourites is the attraction resembling a giant hamster cage in Rose Valley Park in Chișinău. There are tandem swings and a playground for the tiniest humans. We sometimes walk up the lake in the middle of the park and hop on a car-shaped water bike. Exploring this tiny body of water takes five minutes, but then your kids can start chasing down other bikers. Without their knowledge, of course. Don’t worry, life vests are provided. Longer trips out of the cityIf we can, we usually leave the capital on the weekends. Sometimes, it just means renting a simple Airbnb house in nature (hello, an eco-village in Rîșcova ). In the villages, we sometimes knock on locals’ gates and ask if we can buy their produce. The kids would climb on tractors and taste the apples from the garden. Or we would drive to a vineyard. Lately, many of them have built playgrounds. I guess they figured out that people have kids? North of Chisinau, in Crama Mircești , ask the locals about the old self-made potter who only makes black bowls and plates. The vineyard gave him the deal of his lifetime and ordered their table set from him. He happily opens his doors to visitors and talks about his adventurous life. In the east, by the border with Ukraine, lies a village, Lalova. Near the river, a Moldovan family built a traditional bed-and-breakfast, Hanul Lui Hanganu , where we sometimes like to take time off. The owner built most of the houses there by himself. It’s a quiet place (I mean, quiet before we arrive) with a playground and a swimming pool.  A stroll in Lalova during an April sunset. Of course, a major argument for my three-year-old is the simple swing, on which she spends hours. Which means that I spend hours there, too. Other highlights include idling horses and cats. When Orhei Vechi in Butuceni village has outdoor concerts or other events, we stay the night at Eco Resort Butuceni , especially during the spring berry season. My kids can spend the whole morning eating berries, and I can sneak into a hammock to read a book. Or we can dip into the pool. But since there aren’t any pool floats for the kids, and I always forget them at home, this option is less relaxing. When we have guests, we sometimes take the ferry to the other side of the river Nistru. It’s free, and you can take your car from one village, Molovata, to another, Molovata Nouă, with it.  My six-year-old contemplating life decisions by the Nistru River in Molovata Nouă. You do have to pass a young teenage guy with a Russian flag sewn on his uniform, but officially, it’s Moldovan territory, so there’s nothing to worry about. We would go to a hotel, Vila Dorului , that has a heated pool. Last year, we went swimming there in late October. Or, the kids can splash in the river. Or, eat the cherries if it’s the season. You can find wild grapes in the pine forest there. On our way back, a heavy storm prevented the ferry from crossing. So we waited at the bus stop, singing and looking at the branches falling. It was as eventful as a theme park. (The ferry did leave eventually, if you wondered if we were still stuck at that bus stop). Moldova may not have famous wellness centres (such as Therme in Bucharest, Romania) or marked, child-friendly hiking tracks. Moldova’s best-known theme park may be the miniature Kozy village filled with goats . And the only beaches are bits of sand by the Valea Morilor lake or the river Nistru. But if the goal is to spend time with family, then you really don’t need more than a few trees, a fun picnic blanket (which I bring everywhere) and lots of snacks. And that usually makes the day for our toddlers. 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Facts & FiguresPresident: Nicolae Timofti (2012) Prime Minister: Gheorghe Brega (2015, acting) Land area: 12,885 sq mi (33,371 sq km); total area: 13,067 sq mi (33,843 sq km) Population (2014 est.): 3,538,288 (growth rate: –1.02%); birth rate: 12.21/1000; infant mortality rate: 12.93/1000; life expectancy: 70.12 Capital and largest city (2011 est.): Chisinau, 677,000 Monetary unit: Leu National name: Republica Moldova Current government officials Languages: Moldovan 58.8% (official; virtually the same as the Romanian language), Romanian 16.4%, Russian 16%, Ukrainian 3.8%, Gagauz 3.1% (a Turkish language), Bulgarian 1.1%, other 0.3%, unspecified 0.4% note: percentages represent lanugage usually spoken (2004 est.) Ethnicity/race: Moldovan 75.8%, Ukrainian 8.4%, Russian 5.9%, Gagauz 4.4%, Romanian 2.2%, Bulgarian 1.9%, other 1%, unspecified 0.4% note: internal disputes with ethnic Slavs in the Transnistrian region (2004 est.) Religions: Orthodox 93.3%, Baptist 1%, other Christian 1.2%, other 0.9%, atheist 0.4%, none 1%, unspecified 2.2% (2004 est.) National Holiday: Independence Day, August 27 Literacy rate: 99% (2011 est.) Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2013 est.): $13.25 billion; per capita $3,800. Real growth rate: 8.9%. Inflation: 4.6%. Unemployment: 5.8%. Arable land: 53.47%. Agriculture: vegetables, fruits, wine,grapes, grain, sugar beets, sunflower seed, tobacco; beef, milk. Labor force: 1.206 million; agriculture 26.4%, industry 13.2%, services 60.4% (2012). Industries: sugar, vegetable oil, food processing, agricultural machinery; foundry equipment, refrigerators and freezers, washing machines; hosiery, shoes, textiles. Natural resources: lignite, phosphorites, gypsum, arable land, limestone. Exports: $2.399 billion (2012 est.): foodstuffs, textiles, machinery. Imports: $5.493 billion (2013 est.): mineral products and fuel, machinery and equipment, chemicals, textiles. Major trading partners: Russia, Italy, Romania, Germany, Ukraine, Turkey, Belarus, China, UK (2011). Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 1.206 million (2012); mobile cellular: 4.08 million (2012). Broadcast media: state-owned national radio-TV broadcaster operates 2 TV and 2 radio stations; a total of nearly 40 terrestrial TV channels and some 50 radio stations are in operation; Russian and Romanian channels also are available (2007). Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 711,564 (2012). Internet users: 1.333 million (2009). Transportation: Railways: total: 1,190 km (2010). Highways: total: 9,343 km; paved: 8,810 km; unpaved: 533 km (2008). Waterways: 558 km (2011). Ports and harbors: none. Airports: 7 (2013). International disputes: Moldova and Ukraine operate joint customs posts to monitor the transit of people and commodities through Moldova's break-away Transnistria region, which remains under Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe-mandated peacekeeping mission comprised of Moldovan, Transnistrian, Russian, and Ukrainian troops. Major sources and definitions Moldova (formerly Moldavia) is a landlocked republic of hilly plains lying east of the Carpathian Mountains between the Prut and Dniester (Dnestr) rivers. The country is sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine. The region is very fertile, with rich black soil (chernozem) covering three-quarters of the territory. Democratic republic. Most of what is now Moldova was the independent principality of Moldavia in the 14th century. In the 16th century, it came under Ottoman Turkish rule. Russia acquired Moldavian territory in 1791, and more in 1812 when Turkey gave up the province of Bessarabia—the area between the Prut and Dniester rivers—to Russia in the Treaty of Bucharest. Turkey held the rest of Moldavia but it was passed to Romania in 1918. Russia did not recognize the cession of this territory. In 1924, the USSR established Moldavia as an Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. As a result of the Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact of 1939, Romania was forced to cede all of Bessarabia to the Soviet Union in 1940. The Soviets merged the Moldavia ASSR with the Romanian-speaking districts of Bessarabia to form the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic. During World War II, Romania joined Germany in the attack on the Soviet Union and reconquered Bessarabia. But Soviet troops retook the territory in 1944 and reestablished the Moldavian SSR. For many years, Romania and the USSR disputed each other's territorial claims over Bessarabia. Following the aborted coup against Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev, Moldavia proclaimed its independence in Sept. 1991 and changed its name to the Romanian spelling, Moldova. Independence Leads to Political and Financial UnrestConflict between ethnic Romanians and the Russian-Ukrainian majority in Trans-Dniester erupted upon independence. Trans-Dniester separatists (primarily ethnic Russians and Ukrainians) fought for independence from Moldova in 1992; about 1,500 died in the conflict. Unrest continues in Trans-Dniester, which has become a lawless haven for smuggling and other criminal activity. In the south, Gagauz, which is composed mostly of Turkic Christians, has also attempted secession. The Russian financial crisis in fall 1998 severely affected Moldova, which relied on Russia for 60 percent of its foreign trade. Economic disaster caused an exodus of an estimated 600,000 Moldovans. Moldova is considered the poorest country in Europe. In Feb. 2001, the Communist Party won an overwhelming victory in parliamentary elections, and its leader, Vladimir Voronin, became prime minister. Voronin has attempted to forge closer relations with Moscow, thus sparking protests among those who advocate for closer cultural and ethnic ties to Romania. In parliamentary elections in March 2005, the Communist Party—formerly aligned with Russia but recently becoming more pro-Western—won 46% of the vote. In April, President Voronin was reelected president, and he in turn reappointed Prime Minister Vasile Tarlev. On March 19, 2008, Prime Minister Vasile Tarlev resigned unexpectedly, saying that he had achieved his goals and he felt it was time for new blood in government. President Vladimir Voronin nominated a new candidate for prime minister, Zinaida Greceanii. Disputed Election Leads to UnrestCrowds of demonstrators attacked Parliament after the ruling Communist Party won general elections in March 2009. Violent protests followed, and the country became mired in political deadlock. In the July revote of parliamentary elections, the Communists lost their majority, taking 44.8 percent of the vote (48 of 101 seats). A coalition of four parties agreed to form a government. President Voronin resigned in September, and Mihai Ghimpu, a longtime member of Parliament who became speaker after the August elections, stepped in as acting president. With the country at a political impasse for a year, the Constitutional Court intervened in March 2010 and ordered that Parliament be dissolved and called for new elections. The move, however, violated the Constitution and the order cannot be implemented until July. Continuing the electoral conflict, the Dec. 16, 2011, presidential election was ruled invalid due to procedural violations. Finally, in March 2012, the years-long political stalemate came to an end with the successful election of judge Nicolae Timofti in a parliamentary vote of the slimmest margin (one seat). The new president stated that his main goal for Moldava is integration into the EU. Prime Minister Filat DismissedOn March 8, 2013, the Parliament dismissed Prime Minister Vlad Filat by motion of censure, but President Timofti asked Filat to form a new government. On April 22, 2013, the Constitutional Court ruled that another person should replace Filat as an interim prime minister. President Timofti appointed Iurie Leanca as acting prime minister on April 25, 2013. On May 15, 2013, Leanca was designated prime minister. Leanca served as European and foreign integration minister under Filat. The prime minister's cabinet received parliamentary endorsement (58 of 101 members) and was sworn in at the end of May; Natalia Gherman became foreign minister while other key posts remained the same. New Elections Bring Rise to Pro-Russia PartyParliamentary elections were held on Nov. 30, 2014, for the eighth time since the country's independence. The election was a defeat for the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova, which went from 38 to 21 seats. A small pro-Russia party, the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova, was the big winner, taking 25 seats, the most of any party. The result could move the country toward the Eurasian Customs Union, which Russia wants Moldova to join. Liberal Democratic Party candidate Chiril Gaburici was appointed prime minister by President Timofti on Feb. 18, 2015. A businessman, Gaburici previously managed Moldcell, a mobile network company in Moldova. Political Instability ContinuesChiril Gaburici's time as prime minister was brief. He resigned four months after he was appointed, on June 12, 2015, due to a criminal investigation involving accusations that his school diplomas had been falsified. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Natalia Gherman replaced Gaburici as acting prime minister on June 22, 2015. The following month, President Timofti nominated Liberal Democratic Party President Valeriu Streleț as prime minister. Parliament approved the nomination by a 52-41 vote and Streleț assumed office on July 30. However, Strelet's time as prime minister was also brief. In late Oct. 2015, the Moldovan Parliament dismissed Prime Minister Strelet's government after a no-confidence vote. Strelet was dismissed as tensions continued to mount in the country after former Prime Minister Vlad Filat was arrested on Oct. 15. Filat was arrested on charges of taking $260 million in bribes. Parliament member Gheorghe Brega took over as acting prime minister on Oct. 30. Brega became the first ever Liberal Party member to serve as prime minister. On Dec. 21, 2015, President Timofti nominated Ion Sturza to serve as prime minister for a second time. Sturza previously served in 1999. Sturza failed to get his proposed government confirmed by parliament in Jan. 2016 and gave up the mandate. See also Encyclopedia: Moldova . U.S. State Dept. Country Notes: Moldova Department for Statistics and Sociology http://www.statistica.md/?lang=en . Here are the facts and trivia that people are buzzing about.  
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A new constitution, which replaced the 1978 document that had provided for a Soviet-style government structure, was approved by the Moldovan parliament in July 1994 and promulgated on August 27 of that year. Describing the republic as a “sovereign, independent” state in which “justice and political pluralism” are guaranteed, this constitution formally established a unicameral parliament whose members are directly elected to four-year terms. By secret ballot they elect the president, who serves as the head of state, to a four-year term. The president shares executive power with the Council of Ministers (cabinet), which is led by the prime minister , who is designated by the president (after consultation with the parliamentary majority) and approved by the parliament. The council is responsible for implementing the domestic and foreign policy of the state.  Recent NewsFollowing the collapse of the Soviet Union , the Gagauz in the south and Russians east of the Dniester River declared their own independent republics. The Moldovan government addressed the desires of the Gagauz in January 1995 by establishing an autonomous administrative region known as Găgăuzia. Its capital is in Comrat, where a governor ( bașkan ), an executive committee, and a legislature sit (foreign policy, defense, and monetary issues in Găgăuzia are still under the control of the Moldovan government). Neither the Moldovan government nor the international community has recognized the independent republic of Transdniestria (Pridnestrovie; Transnistria), whose name is derived from its location beyond (on the eastern side of) the Dniester River. Under Transdniestria’s constitution its president also serves as prime minister, and there is a unicameral legislature. The self-proclaimed republic also has its own flag and anthem. In response to the region’s aspirations , the 1994 Moldovan constitution had authorized “special status” for the semiautonomous territory of Transdniestria, as it had for Găgăuzia. This offer was rejected by Transdniestria’s government, and an overwhelming majority of Transdniestrian residents voted for independence in a 2006 referendum (though the subsequent declaration of independence was not recognized elsewhere). Russia maintained a force of some 1,500 troops in Transdniestria.  Following Soviet rule, Moldova was reorganized into județ (counties), the municipality of Chișinău , and the autonomous region of Găgăuzia. In 2003 the country was restructured again, with previous divisions replaced by raione (districts), municipii (municipalities; including Chișinău), and Găgăuzia. At a more local level, Moldova is administered by elected town and village councils and mayors; their activities are coordinated by district councils, which also are elected. The judicial system comprises the Supreme Court of Justice (with members appointed by the parliament), a Court of Appeal, and lower courts (whose members are appointed by the president). The Higher Magistrates’ Council nominates judges and oversees their transfer and promotion. The Communist Party of Moldavia —until 1990 the only legal party—was dissolved in 1991 but was legalized as the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova (Partidul Comuniștilor din Republica Moldova; PCRM) in 1994. Following independence a variety of political parties emerged, many of them later to divide or to merge with other parties or coalitions. Some of these parties are based on ethnicity (including the Gagauz People’s Party) and advocacy of independence or unification with either Romania or Russia. A national referendum on Moldova’s status as an independent country was held on March 6, 1994, with a large turnout of eligible voters. More than 95 percent voted in favour of continued independence. Moldovans aged 18 or older are eligible to vote in elections. In elections in the 1990s and early 2000s, about three-fifths of eligible voters cast ballots. Since the mid-1990s the quality and availability of health care in Moldova have improved. In 1991 the Moldovan government established social service programs to supplement the monthly income of the average citizen during the transition from a command to a market economy. These programs were designed to preserve and strengthen the social safety net put in place during the Soviet period. The Social Assistance Fund supplies the needy with medical payments and housing and food subsidies. The Social Security Fund provides pensions for workers, invalids, and soldiers, assists workers during illness or temporary disability, and aids the unemployed. Significant changes occurred in Moldovan society during the Soviet era. Illiteracy was eradicated , and, as in other Soviet republics, emphasis was placed on technical education in order to satisfy the steadily growing needs of agriculture and industry for specialists and a highly skilled workforce. Before 1940 the republic had only a few institutions of higher education and teacher-training colleges, as well as a theological seminary and an agricultural institute. Since then several institutions of higher education and numerous specialized middle schools have been established. Notable universities include the Moldovan State Agrarian University (founded in 1933 as an offshoot of the agriculture department of the University of Iași), the Moldova State University (1946), and the Technical University of Moldova (1964). They all provide instruction in Romanian and Russian, and since the early 1990s the Moldovan language has increasingly been introduced into the educational system. A vigorous program of Moldovan instruction in primary and secondary schools was implemented in 2000. The Moldova Academy of Sciences, established in Chișinău in 1946, coordinates the activities of scientific institutions. In addition, dozens of research centres in the fields of viticulture , horticulture, beet growing, grain cultivation, and wine making have been set up, and Moldovan scientists have won international acclaim in these fields. Cultural lifeThe historical ties between Bessarabia and Romania and the ethnic kinship of Moldovans and Romanians are still reflected in the culture of Moldova. The development of Moldovan culture after World War II , however, followed the prevailing pattern of the Soviet Union as a whole. The state assumed responsibility for the content and direction of all cultural and intellectual life. The theatre, motion pictures, television, and printed matter were subject to censorship and close ideological scrutiny. Until the waning days of Soviet influence, private initiative in cultural endeavours was rare. As a mainly Eastern Orthodox country, Moldova celebrates Christian holidays. Its various ethnic groups tend to follow the customs and eat the foods of their own nationality. Moldova’s Independence Day, August 27, commemorates the country’s breakaway from the Soviet Union (an event that is not celebrated in Transdniestria, which has retained many Soviet holidays and symbols of Soviet life). Moldovans observe a calendar of planting and harvest fairs that feature traditional dancing, singing, and folk arts. The village of Ivancho, near Chișinău, is a centre for these traditional cultural activities, as is the Orheiul Vechi, a restored monastery near the capital. Chișinău remains a musical centre, boasting dozens of nightclubs, discotheques, and concert halls. Notable Moldovan artists include painters Mihail Petrik, Valentin Coreachin, and Vitaly Tiseev and sculptors Iury Kanashin and Vladimir Moraru. Moldova was known in the Soviet era for the quality of its musical instruction, with many Russian composers and conductors serving on the faculty of Chișinău’s Academy of Music. One of the academy’s graduates is the internationally known composer Arkady Luxemburg. Moldovans have also embraced contemporary styles such as rock , pop , and hip-hop , and Moldova has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest since 2005. Moldovan literature experienced the vicissitudes of Soviet literature generally during the late 1940s and early 1950s. Building socialism and creating the new Soviet citizen were the dominant themes, and socialist goals prevailed over aesthetic considerations. Characteristic of these trends were the early prose and poetry of Emilian Bucov and Andrei Lupan, who followed the principles of Socialist Realism ; later they and younger writers diversified their techniques and subject matter. Perhaps the most outstanding modern writer is the dramatist and novelist Ion Druța. His novel Balade de câmpie (1963; “Ballads of the Steppes”), an investigation of the psychology of the village, marked a significant turning point in the evolution of Moldovan fiction, and his play Casa Mare (1962; “The Parlour”) turned away from the concept of collectivity to probe the individual conscience . The work of contemporary essayist and novelist Vitalie Ciobanu is well known in Moldova.  Most of the country’s theatres, museums, music halls, and libraries are in Chișinău. The most significant museums are the National Museum of Fine Arts of Moldova and the National History Museum of Moldova. During the period of Soviet rule, the state gave particular attention to the expansion of cultural opportunities. Numerous amateur theatres and musical and art groups were supported. The state also attempted to preserve the rich heritage of Moldovan folk art and music through such ensembles as the Doina choir and Zhok popular ballet and through local and national museums. Economic changes and urbanization , however, undermined traditional society and curtailed artistic creativity. Moreover, the economic deprivations and hardships since independence have left the average Moldovan little time for cultural interests, and the national budget deficits have left few governmental resources with which to subsidize cultural activities. In 2015 Moldova joined Creative Europe, an EU program designed to support the efforts of creative and cultural organizations with increased access to funding, training, and networking opportunities. Moldovans are avid football (soccer) fans. Games are played throughout the country by organized local teams that compete each year for the national Moldovan Cup. Wrestling has become significant, made popular by Moldovan world champion Lukman Jabrailov. Judo, archery , and athletics (track and field) are also popular. Other favourite sports are rugby, tennis, martial arts, cycling, boxing , volleyball, and canoeing . Chess is a common pastime. In past years ethnic Moldovans have competed on the Olympic teams of both the Soviet Union and Romania. At the 1992 Games in Barcelona, the country participated as part of the Unified Team. Moldova competed for the first time as an independent country at the 1994 Games in Lillehammer, Norway . Because Moldova lacks both mountains and a seashore, many recreational opportunities are limited. The 1994 Moldovan constitution protects freedom of expression in the press; nevertheless, Moldovan media have received widespread criticism for being overly influenced by the government, and there have been occasional incidents of politically motivated prosecution of journalists. There has been concern that Chișinău-based publications that question Moldova’s independence or promote Transdniestria’s separatist policies will be subject to censorship. The initial outpouring of publications at the time of independence has been considerably reduced in the years since, largely as a result of economic pressures. Most publications that started as dailies have cut back production schedules. Notable existing dailies, all published in Chișinău, are the government organ Moldova Suverenă (“Sovereign Moldova”), Nezavisimaya Moldova (“Independent Moldova”), and the Romanian-language Flux . The national news agency , known by its acronym Moldpres, is the country’s official news service. All broadcasting activities have been consolidated under the State Radio and Television Company of Moldova, which was founded in 1994. +31 970 1028 6682 [email protected]  Hire your employees globally with confidenceWe're here to help you on your global hiring journey. Cultural Considerations in BusinessDiscover how cultural norms impact business and employment in Moldova  Communication styles in the workplaceIn Moldova, situated in Eastern Europe, the communication style is a unique blend. Understanding these nuances is essential for navigating the professional landscape. Moderate DirectnessMoldovan communication leans towards moderate directness, with a balance between assertiveness and politeness. This is evident in business interactions, where messages are delivered clearly but often softened with respectful phrasing. Directness can vary depending on the context and relationship between communicators. Colleagues might be more direct with each other, while communication with superiors might be more formal and indirect. Respectful HierarchyMoldovan workplaces emphasize hierarchy. Communication with superiors requires formality, especially in formal settings. Titles are used frequently, and addressing someone by their first name might be seen as disrespectful until a relationship is established. Formality can vary depending on the situation and the relationship between colleagues. In less formal settings or among colleagues of similar rank, communication can be more relaxed. Non-Verbal EmphasisNon-verbal cues play a significant role in Moldovan communication. Maintaining eye contact shows respect, while fidgeting or looking away can be seen as dismissive. Physical gestures are used moderately, with excessive gesticulation potentially perceived as unprofessional. Smiling and a friendly demeanor are essential for building rapport and fostering trust, especially during initial interactions. Understanding these communication styles can help you navigate the Moldovan workplace effectively. By practicing moderate directness, respecting hierarchy, and paying attention to non-verbal cues, you can build stronger relationships with colleagues and business partners. Negotiation practicesNegotiating in Moldova requires an understanding of the cultural norms and preferred approaches to reach successful agreements. Establishing trust and rapport is crucial before diving into specifics. Moldovans value personal connections, and negotiations are seen as opportunities to build partnerships alongside securing a deal.
Typical Strategies
Cultural Influences
Understanding hierarchical structuresMoldovan businesses are often characterized by well-defined hierarchical structures. These structures significantly influence decision-making processes, team dynamics, and leadership styles. Prevalence of HierarchyMoldova's high score on Hofstede's Power Distance Index indicates a societal acceptance of hierarchical structures. This is a reflection of the cultural emphasis on respect for authority figures. Many businesses in Moldova have clear hierarchies with established lines of authority and reporting structures. Employees are generally expected to follow directives from their superiors. Weber's theory of bureaucracy highlights the potential benefits of clear hierarchies, such as increased efficiency and predictability. However, it also points out potential drawbacks like information silos and limited employee autonomy. Impact on Decision-MakingIn Moldovan businesses, decisions are often made by senior management, with limited input from lower levels. This top-down approach can ensure alignment with the overall strategy but might lead to slower decision-making. While final decisions reside with superiors, consultation with relevant team members can occur before finalization. This consultative approach reflects a balance between respecting hierarchy and valuing some level of participation, aligning with Moldova's collectivistic culture that emphasizes group input. Team DynamicsTeam members in Moldovan businesses generally show deference to superiors, and openly questioning decisions from superiors might be uncommon. However, teamwork and collaboration are valued within designated teams or departments. Information sharing across hierarchical boundaries might be limited. Herzberg's two-factor theory suggests that clear hierarchical structures can provide a sense of security for team members, but limited decision-making power can demotivate them. Leadership StylesLeaders in Moldovan businesses tend to be directive, providing clear instructions and expectations. Transformational leadership styles, which inspire innovation and participation, might be less prevalent. Senior leaders may act as mentors, guiding and developing the skills of junior staff. This directive style aligns with the cultural respect for authority, while mentorship reflects a collectivistic concern for group development and knowledge sharing. Holidays and observances affecting business operationsMoldova is known for its rich array of holidays and observances that significantly impact business operations. Statutory HolidaysAccording to the Labor Code of the Republic of Moldova (Law No. 154/2003), businesses are legally required to provide paid leave to employees on official public holidays. These include New Year's Day, Orthodox Christmas Day, Mărţişor, International Women's Day, Holy Easter, Spring and Labour Day, Victory Day and Liberation Day, Reintegration Day, Independence Day, National Language Day, Patron Saint's Day, and National Unity Day. These holidays allow employees to engage in cultural traditions and religious celebrations, thereby fostering social cohesion. Regional ObservancesMoldova is a diverse society with multiple ethnicities and religions. As such, regional holidays specific to certain communities or religions may be observed locally, necessitating adjustments in business schedules. For instance, Ramadan Bairam and Kurban Bairam are observed by the Islamic community, while Christmas Day is celebrated by Christians following the Gregorian calendar. Recognizing these regional variations is essential for ensuring seamless operations and preventing scheduling conflicts for employees observing these holidays. Business Closures and Work SchedulesDuring major holidays such as Independence Day or Easter, many businesses either close completely or operate with reduced hours. Essential service providers like hospitals or security companies may maintain operations with a skeleton staff or implement shift work. The Labor Code provides guidelines on employee rights regarding work hours and leave. Employers are advised to refer to these regulations when determining holiday work schedules and compensation.  Exploring Moldovian Culture and Heritage in Moldova: A Comprehensive GuideMoldovian identity: unveiling the rich tapestry of a unique european culture. Moldova, a small Eastern European nation nestled between Romania and Ukraine, boasts a fascinating history and a distinctive cultural identity that sets it apart from its neighbors. This article delves into the intricacies of Moldovan people, culture, and language, exploring the unique characteristics that have shaped this nation over centuries. From its roots in the Principality of Moldavia to its modern-day status as the Republic of Moldova, we’ll uncover the complex tapestry of influences that have molded Moldovan identity. Whether you’re a history buff, a cultural enthusiast, or simply curious about lesser-known European nations, this in-depth exploration of Moldova will provide valuable insights and challenge your perceptions of this often-overlooked country. What is the origin of the Moldovan people?The origins of the Moldovan people can be traced back to the medieval Principality of Moldavia, which was established in the 14th century. This historical region encompassed parts of present-day Romania, Moldova, and Ukraine. The Principality of Moldavia played a crucial role in shaping the ethnic and cultural identity of modern Moldovans. Throughout its history, the region that now constitutes Moldova has been subject to various political and cultural influences. The area east of the Prut River, known as Bessarabia, became part of the Russian Empire in 1812 following the Treaty of Bucharest. This separation from the rest of Moldavia, which remained under Ottoman suzerainty, marked the beginning of a divergent path for the people of this region. How did historical events shape Moldovan identity?The formation of Moldovan identity has been significantly influenced by major historical events and political changes. After World War I, Bessarabia briefly united with Romania in 1918, forming the Moldavian Democratic Republic . However, this union was short-lived, as the Soviet Union established the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in 1924 on the left bank of the Dniester River. The interwar period saw efforts to promote a distinct Moldovan identity separate from Romanian influence. These efforts intensified during the Soviet era when the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic was established in 1940. The Soviet government implemented policies aimed at emphasizing the differences between Moldovans and Romanians, including the use of the Cyrillic alphabet for the Moldovan language and the promotion of the idea of a separate Moldovan ethnicity. What is the current demographic makeup of Moldova?According to the most recent Moldovan census, the population of Moldova is approximately 2.6 million people. The largest ethnic group is Moldovans, who make up about 75% of the population. Other significant ethnic groups include Ukrainians, Russians, Gagauz, and Bulgarians. The demographic landscape of Moldova has been shaped by historical migrations, political changes, and economic factors. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 led to significant demographic shifts, with many ethnic Russians and Ukrainians leaving the country. Additionally, economic challenges have resulted in substantial outmigration, particularly among younger Moldovans seeking opportunities abroad. How does language define Moldovan identity?Language is a central aspect of Moldovan identity and has been a subject of considerable debate and political controversy. The official language of Moldova, as stated in the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova, is Moldovan. However, this designation is contentious, as many linguists and a significant portion of the population consider it to be identical to the Romanian language. The linguistic situation in Moldova is complex, with Romanian (often referred to as Moldovan) being the primary language of communication for the majority of the population. Russian also plays a significant role, particularly in urban areas and among ethnic minorities. The use of these languages often reflects historical and political divisions within the country. What are the unique cultural traditions of Moldova?Moldovan culture is a rich blend of various influences, reflecting its historical position at the crossroads of Eastern and Western Europe. Traditional Moldovan customs often revolve around agricultural cycles and religious observances, with many celebrations tied to the Eastern Orthodox Christian calendar. One of the most distinctive aspects of Moldovan culture is its winemaking tradition. Moldova boasts some of the largest wine cellars in the world and has a long history of viticulture dating back thousands of years. The annual “National Wine Day” celebration is a testament to the importance of wine in Moldovan culture and economy. Moldovan folk music and dance are also integral parts of the country’s cultural heritage. The “Hora,” a traditional circle dance, is particularly emblematic of Moldovan culture and is often performed at weddings and other festive occasions. How does religion shape Moldovan society?Religion plays a significant role in Moldovan society, with Eastern Orthodox Christianity being the dominant faith. According to recent surveys, over 90% of the population identifies as Orthodox Christian. The Moldovan Orthodox Church, which is canonically subordinate to the Russian Orthodox Church, is the largest religious organization in the country. However, there is also a notable presence of the Metropolis of Bessarabia, which is part of the Romanian Orthodox Church. This religious division often mirrors political and cultural divisions within Moldovan society, reflecting the ongoing debate over Moldovan identity and its relationship to Romania. Despite the predominance of Orthodox Christianity, Moldova is a secular state that guarantees freedom of religion. Other religious minorities, including Protestants, Catholics, and Jews, also contribute to the country’s religious landscape. What challenges does Moldova face in preserving its cultural heritage?Moldova faces several challenges in preserving its cultural heritage, many of which stem from its complex history and current economic situation. The country’s Soviet past has left a lasting impact on its cultural institutions, and efforts to revitalize and redefine Moldovan culture in the post-independence era have been met with both enthusiasm and controversy. One of the primary challenges is the ongoing debate over national identity and language. The question of whether Moldovan constitutes a separate language from Romanian continues to be a point of contention, with implications for education, literature, and cultural policy. Economic difficulties have also posed challenges to cultural preservation. Limited funding for museums, cultural institutions, and heritage sites has made it difficult to maintain and promote Moldova’s rich cultural legacy. Additionally, the outmigration of young people has raised concerns about the transmission of traditional knowledge and practices to future generations. How has Moldova’s relationship with Romania influenced its culture?The relationship between Moldova and Romania has had a profound impact on Moldovan culture and identity. The two countries share a common linguistic and historical heritage, stemming from their roots in the medieval Principality of Moldavia. However, the divergent paths taken by Bessarabia (modern-day Moldova) and the western part of Moldavia (now part of Romania) have led to both similarities and differences in their respective cultures. Since Moldova gained independence in 1991, there have been ongoing discussions about the possibility of reunification with Romania. This idea, known as “unionism,” has both supporters and opponents within Moldova. Cultural exchanges between the two countries have increased, with many Moldovans studying in Romania or consuming Romanian media. The shared linguistic heritage has facilitated close cultural ties, with Romanian literature and art having a significant influence on Moldovan culture. However, the Soviet-era emphasis on a distinct Moldovan identity has also left its mark, resulting in a complex cultural landscape that continues to evolve. What role does Moldova play in the broader European context?Despite its small size, Moldova plays a unique role in the broader European context. Situated at the crossroads of Eastern and Western Europe, Moldova serves as a bridge between different cultural and political spheres. The country’s aspirations for closer ties with the European Union, as evidenced by its signing of an Association Agreement in 2014, have positioned it as part of the EU’s Eastern Partnership initiative. Moldova’s geopolitical significance is further emphasized by its position between Romania, a member of the EU and NATO, and Ukraine. The ongoing conflict in the breakaway region of Transnistria also adds complexity to Moldova’s role in regional politics and security. Culturally, Moldova contributes to European diversity with its unique blend of Eastern and Western influences. The country’s wine industry, traditional crafts, and growing tourism sector offer opportunities for cultural exchange and economic cooperation with other European nations. How can language services support Moldova’s cultural preservation and global engagement?As Moldova continues to navigate its cultural identity and engage with the global community, language services play a crucial role in bridging communication gaps and fostering understanding. LanguageXS, our company, recognizes the importance of preserving linguistic diversity while facilitating international communication. We offer convenient over-the-phone interpretation and online translation services for the Moldovan-speaking community, ensuring that speakers of this unique language can fully participate in global conversations. Our services make information more accessible to Moldovan speakers, whether they’re navigating legal documents, accessing healthcare information, or engaging in business negotiations. By providing accurate and culturally sensitive translations, we help preserve the nuances of Moldovan language and culture while fostering inclusivity in an increasingly interconnected world. Key points to remember about Moldova and its culture:
What is the official language of Moldova? The official language of the Republic of Moldova is Moldovan, which is linguistically identical to Romanian. However, the use of this name is a subject of ongoing debate. Is Moldovan different from Romanian? Moldovan and Romanian are essentially the same language. The distinction is mainly political and historical rather than linguistic. How can LanguageXS assist Moldovan speakers? LanguageXS offers over-the-phone interpretation and online translation services, helping Moldovan speakers communicate effectively in various situations. Are LanguageXS services available for both Moldovan and Romanian? Yes, our services cater to both Moldovan and Romanian speakers, recognizing the linguistic similarity between the two. What types of documents can LanguageXS translate to or from Moldovan? We translate a wide range of documents, including legal papers, medical records, academic transcripts, and business communications. How does the over-the-phone interpretation service work for Moldovan speakers? Simply call our dedicated line, and we’ll connect you with a Moldovan/Romanian interpreter who can facilitate real-time communication. Can LanguageXS help with emergency situations involving Moldovan speakers? Absolutely. Our services are designed to assist in various scenarios, including emergencies where immediate language support is crucial. Does LanguageXS offer services in other languages spoken in Moldova, such as Russian or Ukrainian? Yes, we provide services in multiple languages spoken in Moldova to cater to the diverse linguistic needs of the country. How does LanguageXS ensure the accuracy of Moldovan translations? Our team consists of professional translators and interpreters who are highly skilled in Moldovan/Romanian, ensuring accurate and culturally sensitive translations.  An official website of the United States government The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site. The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.
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 Examining the foreign policy attitudes in Moldova Monica Răileanu SzelesInstitute for Economic Forecasting, Transilvania University of Brasov, Brasov, Romania Associated DataAll relevant data are within the manuscript and its Supporting information files. This paper aims to examine the correlates of foreign policy attitudes in Moldova by a multilevel analysis, and to also reveal some characteristics of the Moldova’s difficult geopolitical and economic context, such as the ethnical conflicts and poverty. A set of four foreign policy attitudes are explained upon individual- and regional level socio-economic and demographic correlates, of which poverty is the main focus, being represented here by several objective, subjective, uni- and multidimensional indicators. An indicator of deprivation is derived from a group of poverty indicators by the method Item Response Theory. Deprivation, subjective poverty, ethnicity and the Russian media influence are found to be associated with negative attitudes toward all foreign policies, while satisfaction with economic conditions in the country and a positive attitude toward refugees are both associated with positive attitudes toward all foreign policies. IntroductionThe Republic of Moldova is situated in South-Eastern Europe, being at the confluence of Central Europe, Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Balkans. The geographical position and the ethnical conflict embracing multiple forms has posed serious threats for this small multi-nation country, which had to face complex geopolitical challenges after the failure of the communist regime. In addition, the “multi-vector” external policy, permanently oscillating between East (European Union) and West (CIS countries), often characterized as “ambiguous, inconsistent and dual” [ 1 ], was not able to manage over time the ethnical and political conflicts. The collapse of the former Soviet Union, Moldova’s independence, the language law recognizing Romanian as the official language since 2013, the conflicts in Transnistria and Gagauzia, the perspective of unification with Romania, the Russia’s influence and more recently the alternative of European Union membership are just few of the major political milestones that Moldova has encountered in the last 30 years. The Moldova’s perspective to join the EU could open a new chapter into its long term economic development. But the paradox is that Moldova is the only European country where European integration has progressively become less popular despite the pro-European government [ 2 ]. The closeness of Moldova to the European Union has historically been associated with the Moldova’s fluctuant political regime. However, the struggle between the pro-European and pro-Russian parties has stacked for a long time Moldova between its neighbours, Romania and Ukraine. The European Union enlargement to the East, together with the emergence and development of Moldovan pro-European forces and opinions, should have been accelerated the EU membership. This hasn’t happened, and moreover, the public support for the European integration has continuously declined after 2009. The failure of authorities to combat corruption, to increase the standard of living, and to prevent the exodus of the working age population explain the decline of the EU popularity because the population associates the pro-European government with the European integration process [ 2 ]. In Moldova, the ethnic identity has risen serious debates, as well as an overwhelming and ethno-political conflict, whose main actors are the Moldovans, Gagauzians and Romanians sharing one common country. According to the 2014 Census, the most important ethnic groups in Moldova are Romanians (7%), Ukrainians (6.6%), Gagauz (4.6%), Russians (4.1%) and Bulgarians (1.9%). After the Soviet Union disintegration, the largest group of Gagauzians form the Autonomous Territorial Unit (ATU) in Southern Moldova. Apart from other ethnic minorities in Moldova, Gagauz people have no other country bearing their name. The 1994 ATU autonomy law ensured that ATU will not become a part of Romania in case that Moldova will merge with Romania. This has quieted down Gagauzians for a while, but still ethnical and political tensions fuel fears of losing their autonomy. The inconsistent foreign policy, the low public interest for current political issues, and the economic, social and political problems that Moldova encountered in the transition from communism to democracy [ 3 ], have downturned the long term economic development of Moldova, and have also deteriorated the strategic partnerships with neighbouring countries. To a much higher extent than other countries, the economic development of Moldova is significantly influenced by geopolitical forces and strategic partnerships, so that the foreign policy represents a fundamental pillar of Moldova’s long term sustainable development. Despite the rapid pro-poor economic growth of 5 percent annually since 2000, which resulted in a significant progress of poverty reduction from 68 to 11.4 percent between 2000 and 2014, Moldova remains one of the poorest countries in the region with 41% of population living below the threshold of 5 USD a day (2005 PPP) in 2014. I mention at this step that in the framework of economic theory the economic growth rate is considered to be pro-poor if it’s the result of national policies aimed to use it for the benefit of poor people. This is the case here, as it resulted in the reduction of poverty. Moreover, the social disequilibria significantly inflate the negative impact of political instability and ethnical conflicts on economic development, which is strongly related to foreign policy in the case of Moldova. In this broad context, understanding what really lies behind the foreign policy attitudes, and in particular finding to what extent they are also influenced by poverty, ethnic tensions and regional patterns, allows enhancing the connection between public opinion and foreign policy, which could be ultimately regarded as an important assessment tool in measuring political commitment. This paper intends to fill a gap in the literature by examining the foreign policy attitudes in Moldova, from a regional perspective. To capture not only the impact of individual-level characteristics on the foreign policy attitudes, but also the influence of geographical peculiarities, a multilevel model is used in the empirical section with individuals nested in districts. This multilevel approach reflects the regional perspective of our study. The paper adds new empirical evidence to the literature which relies almost exclusively on studies of American foreign policy opinions [ 4 ], but it also contributes to the literature in other ways. First, it provides a regional perspective to the analysis of foreign policy attitudes, which perfectly fits the challenging Moldova’s ethno-geopolitical context. Second, it relates public opinions on foreign policy to poverty by a multidimensional approach, as to also address the social issues in Moldova—one of the poorest countries in Europe. Upon our knowledge, the link between foreign policy attitudes and poverty has not been explored so far. To accommodate the regional dimension of the dataset, random intercept logit models are used in the empirical section, where the regional foreign policy attitudes are explained upon regional- and individual level characteristics. In addition, the Item Response Theory is used to construct a scale of deprivation. The paper is structured as follows: After “Introduction”, the “Literature Review” underlines the most important contributions to the literature. The section of “Methodology” presents the two methods used in the empirical analysis, while “Data” provides the description of the data and the economic and social context in Moldova. The “Empirical analysis” includes the construction of the multidimensional scale of deprivation, and the analysis of foreign policy attitudes. The last section concludes and formulates policy recommendations. Literature reviewThe earliest strand of approaches to foreign policy attitudes emerged in the ‘50s as an echo of the American public opinion on both economic and military issues [ 5 ]. The Almond’s seminal paper (1950) stating that “the foreign policy attitudes among most Americans lack intellectual structure and factual content” has been subsequently explored by most papers studying the foreign policy attitudes. This strand of literature commonly place all sets of attitudes on an internationalist-isolationist continuum [ 6 – 8 ]. In the context of the Vietnam War [ 9 ], identified for the first time internationalism as being the main vector of the American public opinion toward foreign policy. He explained that two faces of internationalism prevailed that time: the militant internationalism and the cooperative internationalism. The same approach was also explored by other papers, i.e. [ 8 ]. Cooperative internationalism focuses on achieving common goals through collaborative and non-military actions, as well as on being concerned about other countries and international issues [ 10 ]. In contrast with the Chittick’s view [ 10 , 11 ] analyzes cooperative internationalism as emerging from global solidarity and from the “obligation to the broader international community”. Compared to cooperative internationalism, militant internationalism uses military strength and force in achieving foreign policy objectives [ 12 ], or simply as a consequence of self-defeating strategies. Isolationism is described as not overlapping with cooperative and militant internationalism, and it was often associated to nationalist unilateralism, e.g. [ 13 ]. As suggested above, the literature on foreign policy attitudes focuses almost exclusively on the US case study, and most conclusions and considerations are derived from the specific peculiarities of the US political context. For instance [ 14 ], explains that in general the foreign policy attitudes result from the perceptions of threat in relation with the Soviet Union military actions and intentions, given that the Soviet Union is generally perceived as a nation willing to expand its influence. An important strand of literature historically analyses the Soviet Union’s image and perception in US compared to Europe, and most findings confirm that the US hostility is higher than that of European countries, even though the latter have stronger objective reasons to motivate it [ 15 , 16 ]. Militant internationalism is therefore widely associated to the necessity to protect the American interests from the USSR in the past, and more recently from Islamic [ 17 ]. In the light of these aspects, when studying the foreign policy attitudes of a small country like Moldova that once was part of the Soviet Union, the literature mainly focusing on the US perspective could be irrelevant, and it might not fit the citizen profiles, thoughts and experiences. Despite the in-depth analysis of Americans’ foreign policy attitudes, the literature lacks the empirical research support of attitudes expressed by other citizens toward their national foreign policy. Earlier and recent studies exploring foreign policy attitudes are all concerned with finding whether they are structured or not, and in case they are structured, what are their most important drivers, either political or core-values, or other kind of underlying factors. In the literature, the empirical evidence indicate mixed results. For instance [ 12 ], advance the idea that policy attitudes are structured upon core political values. More recent papers discuss the role of core political values in explaining the difference between policy preferences and opinions on the internationalism—isolationist dimensions, such as [ 18 ] and [ 19 ]. Given that they have “hidden organizing principles” [ 20 ], in empirical research values are not directly observable, so that they are measured as latent values by the factor loadings of the factor analysis. The foreign policy attitudes are also found to be connected to the “moral traditionalism” [ 21 ] in the sense that people who can be defined as being conservative on the moral traditionalism scale are more prone to be “militant anti-communist”, and therefore to have an anti-Soviet sentiment. Apart from the values driven attitudes discussed above, the analysis of the determinants of foreign policy attitudes is considered to be a difficult exercise because they are generally not based on information, are unstructured [ 22 ] and unstable [ 5 ], being therefore irrelevant for policy-making. In addition [ 23 ], argues that the quality, structure and coherence of public opinion on foreign policy depend on the level of knowledge. When analyzing the attitudes to issues in the area of European common foreign and security policy, he finds that their structure is low even at a relatively high level of knowledge. As [ 12 ] emphasize, the foreign policy attitudes rely on postures or abstract believes about the international policy line that governments should follow, and to a lesser extent on the fully understanding of world politics. However [ 24 ], find that material and political considerations drive the Muslim citizens’ attitudes toward the EU, and [ 25 ] explain the necessity of combining objective and subjective measures when studying the attitudes toward the EU. When analysing the structure and drivers of votes and attitudes, the geographical polarisation should be also considered, and the traditional approach is the centre-periphery theory. The modern interpretation is provided by [ 26 ] who explain the difference between the citizens located in areas which are more connected to the global world, and those who are not, and the divide between the agglomerated urban centres with emerging knowledge economies, and the suburban economies or post-industrialized communities. In the framework of the centre-periphery theory, the foreign policy attitudes have been also studied in relation with social position, and the seminal work belongs to [ 27 ], who developed the centre-periphery index—a summative measure of eight dichotomous items, such as sex, age, education, income, religion, sector of employment, occupational status, and urban-rural location. When analysing the foreign policy opinions in Norway upon the differences between the centre and the periphery of the society, he finds that the “periphery” will “either favour the status-quo, or sudden and complete changes”. His influential idea was used to also prove that opposition to the EU increases linearly when moving from the centre to the periphery. In contrast with Galtung [ 28 ], proves the difference in attitudes between the centre and the periphery of society, but he doesn’t identify the pattern of the difference [ 29 ]. explains the formation of political systems in Europe by the centre-periphery tension between the capital region and periphery regions, tension that was enhanced by the nation building process. The centre-periphery tensions also explain the formation of regional identities. Apart from the foreign policy attitudes which are of interest for all countries in the world, the attitudes on unification and federalization are particularly significant only for a small number of countries, of which Korea and Germany are the most popular case studies. One of the most prominent group of theories providing a consistent theoretical background for explaining the attitudes on unification is usually referred to as “generational theories”. According to them, political values are formed in early adulthood based on the most important historical experiences [ 30 – 32 ], but the generational factors become “silent” during turbulent times, as advanced by [ 33 , 34 ]. As discussed in this section, most papers studying foreign policy attitudes rely on the US case, and to a lesser extent on the study of other countries. Some kind of attitudes toward EU have been largely studies in the context of different referendums that were held over time on the topic of the EU or EMU (European Monetary Union) membership, and the findings generally exhibit a high degree of heterogeneity across the EU countries [ 35 ]. For example, the membership to EU is perceived as being economically beneficial for British people in the context of the Brexit referendum [ 25 , 36 ]. Explain that the England’s electorate attitudes toward the EU depend on the objective and subjective experiences of diversity and immigration, and therefore they conclude that objective and subjective measures should be combined when analysing political motivation. The foreign policy attitudes of Moldovans have not been addressed in the literature so far, upon our knowledge, but few papers characterize the Moldova’s foreign policy as “soft balancing” between Russia and European Union. More specifically [ 37 ], state that Moldova switched to the European Union using a light balancing strategy, but only when the EU has created the framework for such an attitude [ 38 ]. examine the similarities of the EU and Russia policies developed by them in Moldova, and they find that both aim attracting the local elites to be therefore able to indirectly influence the internal policy areas. The multilevel (hierarchical) analysis represents the principal methodology used in our empirical study, but subsequently the Item Response Theory will be used as well, as an alternative to the simple sum-score approach. In the empirical section of our paper the multilevel analysis allows us explaining a set of foreign policy attitudes upon a set of common individual- and regional level explanatory variables, of which the group of poverty variables are our main focus. In addition, the Item Response Theory (IRT) is used to aggregate a number of deprivation variables into a deprivation index which becomes one of the poverty variables. The multilevel models are specifically designed for hierarchical data because they take into account the clustering of data upon different categories (Levels). Even though our data have a multilevel design (individuals at Level 1 nested in Districts at Level 2), in the first step of our empirical analysis we have to check the appropriateness of using multilevel models by running several specific tests that examine the degree of clustering for each level of our analysis. If our data are found to exhibit a significant degree of clustering, then the use of multilevel models becomes totally justified [ 39 ]. The two-level design of our data requests first examining the Interclass Correlation (ICC), and second, if the correlation is found to be reasonably high and justifies the use of multilevel models, examining what kind of multilevel models better fit our data. Ignoring that observations could be correlated at some Levels could lead to biased standard errors and incorrect results. The ICC is the most popular diagnostic-test for deciding on the appropriateness of the multilevel model. The fact that certain individuals live in the same district could cause their attitudes to foreign policy to be similar one from another, and to differ from those living in other districts. The ICC therefore measures the proportion of the total variation that is accounted for by the clustering of data, i.e. by between-districts variation. The two-level variance components model is the simplest possible two-level model, so that it should be the first applied in our analysis. It is also referred to as the “empty model” because it has no covariates. The model is estimated by the maximum likelihood method. Where, y ij is the attitude of individual i living in district j , β 0 denotes the intercept (the average across all individuals and districts), u j is the district level residual and e ij is the individual residual. The district random intercept effects are assumed to be normally distributed with zero mean and between-district variance σ u 2 , and the individual’ residuals also are normally distributed with zero mean and within-district variance σ e 2 . Likelihood ratio (LR) tests are generally used when moving from a simple model to a more complex one, being indicative for the “badness of fit”. The test also suggests whether it is worthy introducing a set of determinants, or whether the random-intercept model should be used instead of the variance components model. In our case the test allows us checking whether the “district random intercept effects” would be “value added” effects. Another model that is used in the empirical section is the two level random-intercept model. The presentation of the two-level random intercept model, random-intercept logit model and random-intercept cumulative logit model is based on Steele (2010). As the model specified in Eq (1) , this model has a fixed and a random part. Where, x ij represent an individual level explanatory variable whose regression coefficient is β ij . The model could easily incorporate more explanatory variables. The sum β 0 + β 1 x ij is the fixed part that could be extended by adding new explanatory variables, while the sum u j + e ij is the random part. However, in our analysis the dependent variables are ordinal and binary variables, so our specific multilevel models take the form of random intercept cumulative logit models and random intercept logit model, respectively. The random intercept cumulative logit models can be written as in Eq (3) . In Eq (3) , the group level residual u j , the cumulative response probabilities and the response probabilities allow the intercepts to vary across groups (in our case, districts). The parameter σ k is the overall intercept and it represents the log-odds that a person with x = 0 and u = 0 has a response of value equal to k or lower than k . The random intercept logit model accommodates binary response variables. Where, β 0 is the overall intercept and it represents the log-odds that y ij = 1, when x ij = 0 and u j = 0. Consequently, the sum β 0 + u j is the intercept for the group j . The parameter u j is the random effect or Level2 residual. β 1 is the effect of the explanatory variable x when holding constant the group effect, and it is also known as the cluster-specific effect. The second method that we use here is the Item Response Theory, a measurement method traditionally and extensively used in psychometrics and educational sciences in the ‘60 and ‘70, but which has recently gained increased attention and was extended to all social sciences fields, as a group of mixed-effects multivariate generalized linear models. Compared to the Classical Test Theory, which simply calculate the mean of the item response scores, the IRT scores describe the relationship between (1) the probability to give a certain response to an item and (2) the latent trait (summative score) and items characteristics (e.g. the difficulty and discrimination parameters), through a link function. The IRT method is used here to assess the validity of the deprivation measurement scale that will be developed from a number of deprivation items available in our working dataset. The choice of this technique comes from considering deprivation as a latent trait, which is in line with the IRT method. Even though factorial analysis and test reliability have been advanced as alternative methods in the construction of latent traits based on a set of items, the IRT presents a number of advantages. For instance, with the IRT the conclusions are unveiled not solely based on the total scores, but rather on considering each item individually [ 40 ]. Other advantages are given by the IRT principles, such as the invariance of item parameters and individual’s parameters, which allows comparing latent traits of persons of different populations. Another characteristic of this method is that it places both individuals and items on the same metric [ 41 ]. This helps selecting in the empirical section a group of deprivation items that are able to differentiate between individuals differently located on the deprivation scale. In social sciences the one and two parameter- logit/ probit IRT models are the most popular IRT models [ 42 ]. We apply here the one parameter probit IRT model, which allows us analyzing the scale items upon their difficulty parameter, as well as calculating the individual deprivation scores. According to the notation used in mixed-effects regression models, the model can be written as: In the equation above, βi denotes the difficulty parameter for the item i , Dj * is the latent score of deprivation for individual j and Vij * represents the response of individual j to the item i . Vij is a normally distributed error term with mean zero and fixed variance. If we treat Dj * as random individual effects, then the standard maximum likelihood provides estimates of both the parameter β i and the deprivation score Dj *. Ethno-geopolitical context and dataThe substance of foreign policy attitudes in moldova. The geopolitical deadlock between Russia and the EU, the unresolved conflicts over Transnistria, and the ethnic divide are the main coordinates on the Moldova’s foreign policy agenda. The downward spiral of these drawbacks has unsystematically channelled an increasing wave of discontent toward the main actors of the Moldova’s foreign policy, who are differently perceived by population either as catalysts or as opponents of the long term well-being and economic development. In Moldova, the ethnic identity slides between Moldovanism and Romanianism which are different with regard to values, believes, political agendas and political goals [ 43 ]. Moldovanism advances the idea that Moldovans are different from Romanians, Romania being considered as a threat to Moldova’s independence. Romanianism regards Moldova as a regional variation of the Romanian history and culture, the complementarity being in their view the link between Romania and Moldova. The debates emerging at every level of society around the Moldova’s national identity have also fed the political conflict, with deep implications for the foreign policy too. The foreign policy attitudes in Moldova should be therefore analysed in the context of the ethnical conflict and geopolitical context, which could in turn distort the population real attitudes prevailing in the absence of the above-mentioned tensions. The foreign policies examined in the empirical section will be shortly described below, just to provide a better understanding of their meaning, in the context underlined above. Transnistria is a part of the Republic of Moldova officially recognized by Moldova as the Transnistria autonomous territorial unit with special legal status. In fact, Transnistria is a post-soviet frown conflict area, having an unresolved territory’s political status in the sense that it is an unrecognised but de facto independent semi-presidential republic. The Transnistria war (1990–1992) emerged after the dissolution of Soviet Union between pro-Transnistria and pro-Moldova forces. Even though a ceasefire was declared in 1992, ethnic and political tensions have gradually accumulated over time. At present, a three-party (Russia, Moldova, Transnistria) Joint Control Commission supervises the security in the demilitarised zone, which is formed of twenty localities on both sides of the river. Federalisation represents for Moldova more than an alternative form of local government. In the context of ethnic conflicts spread all over the country, federalisation can be rather considered a pro-Russian foreign policy measure that would weaken the country and would threaten the prospects of EU membership. This is so because federalisation would give Transnistria a bigger political power, which may tip the political balance to Moscow. In the framework of federalisation, the strengthening of district competences would facilitate international powers to influence and control the Moldovan districts. In the light of the above considerations, the federalisation policy measure would be regarded as being in opposition with both the EU membership and the unification with Romania. The NATO membership is a controversial project that is differently perceived in Moldova. Alienating with NATO, with or without joining it, could be a step toward the EU membership, but in the same time the NATO membership could violate the country’s neutral status stated by Constitution. Due to the trustworthy information and the low quality of local media in Moldova, the opportunity and the “meaning” of NATO membership are insufficiently understood by population. As officially stated, NATO supports the Moldova’s EU membership, and the NATO membership is not a precondition for the EU membership. From this consideration, the two policy measures are not in opposition one with another. The empirical analysis uses data drawn from the 2017 wave of the Barometer of Public opinion in Moldova. This public opinion poll is a research program developed by the Moldovan Institute for Public Policy, on an annual basis, since 1998. The data collected by the Barometer cover areas like political choices, quality of life, and perception of economic, social and political measures adopted by the Moldovan government. The poll also represents an in-depth exploration of the attitudes toward (1) economic issues, (2) quality of life, (3) politics, (4) external relations, and (5) daily issues. The survey collects data on a number of 1103 adult individuals from all Moldovan districts, which represent the first-tier administrative- territorial units of Moldova. Although the first-tier administrative territorial units of Moldova include a number of 32 districts, only 31 are included in our analysis. Dubasari district is excluded, given that it is partially controlled by Transnistria, which is not considered in the current analysis. In addition, two municipalities (Chisinau and Balti), as well as the Autonomous Territorial Unit Gagauzia, are included in the working dataset. The main focus of this paper is to explain the Moldovans regional foreign policy attitudes, so that four variables represent our main variables of interest, of which three are suggestive for the foreign policy, and another one for the domestic policy, the latter being taken as a reference model. The three foreign policies have been selected according to the literature, as to be representative for “militant internationalism”, “cooperative internationalism”, and “isolationism”:
According to the Poll, 17% of the voting-age population would vote for federalization, 46% for the EU membership, 21% for the NATO membership, and 23% for the unification with Romania. A proportion of 25% are completely against federalization, 36% against the EU membership, 55% against the NATO membership, and 58% against the unification with Romania. It therefore results that the question about federalization has the highest number of undecided voters. The federalization question also exhibits the highest degree of dispersion among individuals, i.e. a value of 0.91, compared to 0.45 (Unification) and 0.50 (EU membership). Federalization is a categorical variable with three categories (pro-Federalization, against Federalization, and undecided), while the other two variables on the foreign policy attitudes are binary variables. Our main variables of interest described above are explained in our paper upon a set of explanatory variables which includes both district- and individual- level variables, as follows:
Some of the explanatory variables were chosen according to the literature, while others have not been connected to the foreign policy attitudes so far, the latter reflecting thus the innovative contribution of this paper. The decision to introduce district level variables into our empirical analysis relies on the work of [ 26 , 29 ], who find that geographical polarisation and the divide between urban and rural localities are drivers of attitudes and votes. Most of the individual-level correlates we consider here (age, gender-related variables, education, income, occupation, urban-rural location, social position) have been advanced by [ 27 ], in his seminal paper, as items of the center-periphery index explaining the differences in attitudes toward foreign policy attitudes. In line with [ 25 ], we include subjective variables in the set of explanatory variables to reveal both objective and subjective experiences of diversity and immigration, which could be of a particular interest in a multi-ethnic country as Moldova. This justifies not only the use of subjective variables in the area of “Satisfaction” and “Poverty”, but also of the variable “Experience of living abroad”. As [ 24 ], we explain foreign policy attitudes upon material considerations (as reflected by the variable “Material deprivation”), and not only upon values and beliefs. The level of knowledge has been largely found to be a driver of attitudes [ 23 ], so that we examine here the attitudes toward foreign policy by education as well. Most variables used to explain the Moldovans’ attitudes toward different political issues have been recoded in variables of 2–4 categories. After recoding, “Education” is a categorical variable of three categories, “Income poverty” is a categorical variable comprising 12 income brackets, while Subjective poverty is a five category- variable giving insights into the level of satisfaction with the family income. Social trust is recoded as a dummy variable identifying the individuals who consider communication family, peers, friends and neighbors as being the most reliable source of information. The dummy variable “Satisfaction foreign policy” unveils the degree of satisfaction with the Moldova’s foreign policy, while the dummy “Attitudes toward refugees” reflects the Moldovans’ opinion about whether Moldova should provide or not protection to refugees. “Information sources” is a categorical variable of 7 categories: (1) Romanian TELEPHONE (considered as reference categories in the empirical section), (2) Russian TELEPHONE, (3) Moldovan newspapers, (4) Internet websites, (5) Social network (e.g. Facebook), (6) Announcements, posters, and (7) Communication with family, peers, friends and neighbors. As explained in the empirical section, the latent variable “Deprivation” has been derived from a number of seven deprivation items, by using the Item Response Theory. The items are: Refrigerator (item 1), TELEPHONE (item 2), Computer (item 3), Car (item 4), Washing machine (item 5), Current water (item 6) and Gas (item 7). All items belong to the areas of durable goods and utilities. The means and standard deviations reported in Table 1 reflect a high heterogeneity across population with regard to the deprivation rates corresponding to the scale items.
Given that the regional dimension represents a primary focus here, the variables of interest will be represented by regional maps. They are plotted on Moldova’s map, using district level data. Different shades of grey describe the Moldovan’ attitudes toward the external relations of Moldova by districts. The white coloured districts indicate a higher concentration of those who are against that political measure, while a black area is suggestive for a high proportion of population who is in favour of that political issue. As shown in Fig 1 , the maps of the territorial distribution of votes exhibit some degree of similarity. In particular, the lower half of Fig 1(1.1) and 1(1.2) are very similar. The South-Eastern half of Moldova tends to be more reluctant to all foreign policy solutions (and to a lower extent to the domestic policy measure of federalization). However, the perspectives of federalization and NATO membership seem to raise more negative votes than the EU membership and Unification with Romania. Surprisingly, the Moldova’s Western border with Romania is not characterized by a higher concentration of pro-unification and pro-EU membership votes. Only the South-Eastern part of Moldova appear to be “darker”, which means a higher proportion of votes for the unification with Romania and EU membership. Moreover, the four maps indicate some regional patterns, and this will be analysed in the next section.  Notes . (1) The maps were realized by author in Stata using the GIS mapping; (2) Transnistria is excluded from our analysis. Empirical analysisThe empirical analysis is conducted in two steps. First, a score of deprivation is calculated based on a group of deprivation variables by the IRT method. Second, the deprivation score, along with other poverty indicators and other covariates, will explain a set of foreign and domestic policy measures, in order to firstly reveal whether poverty, and subsequently what kind of poverty, influence the citizen’ attitudes toward foreign policy measures. The IRT is therefore used in the first part of the empirical analysis, and two-level random-intercept cumulative logit models in the second part. Deriving a latent score of material deprivation by the Item Response TheoryThe central objective of the paper is to examine the impact of poverty on the Moldovans’ foreign-policy attitudes. As widely debated in the literature, poverty is a broad concept that has been largely addressed by various approaches, such as the uni- versus multidimensional, and the objective versus subjective ones. Given the comprehensive area of poverty, three indicators are used here to operationalize this broad concept. “Income poverty” and “Subjective poverty” are directly taken from the dataset, while the third, “Deprivation” will be calculated in this section. “Income poverty” measures the monetary unidimensional poverty, while “Deprivation” represents the multidimensional poverty. Both indicators reflect the objective nature of poverty, which is in contrast with “Subjective poverty”. These three indicators allows us incorporating a multifaceted representation of poverty in our empirical analysis. As a latent measure, “Deprivation” will be derived from a set of indicators reflecting the economic strain. The method used at this step is the Item Response Theory (IRT) because it justifies a rigorous selection of deprivation items, and it also allows calculating a latent score of deprivation. The variables used to operationalize deprivation reflect two dimensions of material deprivation: Housing dimension and Durable goods dimension, as denoted in the Eurostat database (Eurostat, 2018).
We choose here the one-parameter probit IRT model to construct the scale of deprivation and to calculate the individual deprivation scores. The selection of items is done according to the item difficulty parameters, as the item discrimination parameters are fixed in this model. A broad range of item difficulty parameters would be an indication of a comprehensive scale. The item parameter invariance is the key-feature of the IRT and makes the distinction between the IRT and CTT. For our analysis this propriety means that the item estimates do not depend on person samples and persons estimates do not depend of item samples. It therefore ensure the consistency of the individual scores of deprivation. In a first step, the Cronbach’s Alpha test is applied as to check the internal reliability of the deprivation scale. Even though several sets of items have been tested and analysed using the Cronbach’s Alpha and the IRT, only the final selected one is reported here. The value of 0.69 denotes an acceptable internal consistency and it also proves that the items included in the scale measure the same latent phenomenon—material deprivation. In Table 2 the material deprivation items are ranked upon their difficulty parameters. According to our data, the refrigerator and telephone are the most difficult or severe items which suggests that a person who has no refrigerator or telephone has a high probability (higher than 0.5) to be also deprived of other items. In fact, the item difficulty parameter is the value along the “material deprivation” continuum at which an individual has 0.5 probability of being deprived.
Notes. Estimates from the one-parameter probit IRT; *** p<0.01, ** p<0.05, * p<0.1. The Item Characteristic Curve (ICC) in Fig 2 describes the probability of being deprived upon a certain deprivation item conditional on specific values of the deprivation distribution. The difficulty of a deprivation item, as a location index, describes where the item functions along the deprivation scale. Given that all items have the same discrimination power, their ICC do not intersect as it would be in the two-parameter model.  The ICC graphical representation indicates a balanced selection of deprivation items in terms of their difficulty. Beside the item difficulty parameters, the IRT method allows calculating the latent scores of material deprivation. The individuals’ scores of material deprivation enter as explanatory variables in the second part of the empirical analysis, but they also allow analyzing the regional distribution of deprivation scores, as shown in Fig 3 .  Source. The map was realized by author in Stata using the GIS mapping. In Fig 3, the darker areas reflect the most deprived districts, while the lighter ones are associated to a lower material deprivation. Apparently, the Northern part of Moldova has more deprived districts compared to the Southern part. However, the regional heterogeneity seems to be an essential characteristic when examining the regional material deprivation in Moldova. Under the IRT theory, the left-hand curves represent “easy” items, the centre-curves represent items of medium difficulty, while right-hand curves represent “difficult” items. For instance, “Refrigerator” and “Telephone” are “difficult” items because the probability to be deprived on these items is generally low even for the deprived individuals, while “car” is a “the least difficult” item because the probability of being deprived on this item is high for most deprived individuals. Examining the correlates of foreign policy attitudes and the impact of poverty. Analysis and discussionThe empirical analysis is intended to exploit the two-level structure of the data by using the multilevel analysis with individuals at Level 1 nested in districts at Level 2. This allows us using both individual- and district- level variables while also considering the correlation at each level of analysis. In the first part of this section we check whether this technique is appropriate and fits our data by the variance components model. Although this “preliminary analysis” is separately performed on each of our four variables on foreign/domestic policy attitudes, the results from the variance components model are extensively reported and analyzed here just for the variable “EU membership”. However, the conclusions of this part will regard the whole set of four variables. The core of the preliminary analysis is the identification of the variation at each Level of analysis with the Variation Partition Coefficient (also called “Interclass Correlation Coefficient”). The Variance Partition Coefficient (VPC) is the proportion of the total residual variance (Level 1 + Level 2) that is due to between-group variation. The VPC for the variable “EU membership” is analyzed by the two-level logit model with district random effects, but no explanatory variables. This is a ‘null’ model, which is also referred to in the literature as a variance components model. The output generated by this model can be synthetically presented as follows: The log-odds of voting Moldova’s accession to EU for an ‘average’ locality (with u 0 = 0) is estimated as 0.30. The intercept for locality j is 0.30+u 0j , where the variance of u 0j is estimated as 1.728. The likelihood ratio statistic for testing the null hypothesis is 85.46 with a corresponding p-value of less than 0.00005, and so there is strong evidence that the between-district variance is non-zero. When plotting the estimated residuals for districts, we get that, for a substantial number of communities, the 95% confidence interval does not overlap the horizontal line at zero, indicating that the votes of Moldova’s accession to EU in these districts is significantly above average (above the zero line) or below average (below the zero line). This also indicates the significance of district effects from the null model. In the “null” variance components model presented above, which estimates the grand mean of the votes for the Moldova’s accession to EU, the between-district variance is estimated as 1.72. For a logit model, the Level 1 residuals are assumed to follow a standard logistic distribution which has a variance of π 2 /3 ≈ 3.29. This implies a VPC of the district level for the Moldova’s accession to EU votes equal to 1.72/ (1.72 + 3.29) = 0.3433. This value allows us concluding that 34.33% of the variation in the Moldova’s accession to EU votes is due to between-district variation. Similarly, we get that the VPC for the pro-unification with Romania votes is 30%, the VPC for the NATO membership votes is 16%, while the VPC in the pro-federalization votes is 15%. To sum up the preliminary analysis undertaken in this section, we conclude that the size of variation at Level 2, which is higher than 10%, justify the use of mixed models instead of linear ones for all our variables of foreign/domestic policy attitudes. In Table 3 the two-level random intercept (cumulative) logit model has been used to explain the four variables of foreign/domestic policy attitudes upon a common set of individual- and regional level explanatory variables, of which a group of three poverty variables represents our main focus.
Notes. Random intercept models; The estimation uses a mean-variance adaptive Gauss-Hermite quadrature with 7 integration points for each set of random effects; The estimation procedure is the maximum likelihood estimation using adaptive quadrature with 7 integration points; The standard errors are reported in brackets; Reference category for Region is North; According models ( 1 ), ( 2 ) and ( 4 ), younger Moldovan people seem to be more in favour of foreign policies involving international cooperation and openness, as those examined here. Although the results in the literature are rather mixed, our findings confirm the general consideration that intellectuals and the younger generation of leaders questioned the concept of a distinct Moldovan nation, and reemphasized the Romanian identity, in contrast to older generations that are rather Russian-born [ 44 ]. In general, age is associated in the literature with increasing political knowledge even when considering the differences in the educational attainments [ 45 – 47 ]. But according to the generation effect theory, in (former) transitional economies the political preferences are usually influenced by the periods of dissatisfaction with a certain political regime, so that younger people are more progressive than older ones in terms of values [ 48 ]. Our findings are therefore in line [ 48 ], in the sense that in Moldova (a former transitional country) younger people are more supportive of international cooperation in comparison with older generations. Interestingly, age is not significantly associated to federalization—the domestic policy measure considered here as a reference one, for comparative purpose. The significance of the quadratic term of age (age square) suggests a nonlinear relationship between age and the dependent variables in Models ( 1 ), ( 2 ), and ( 4 ). The positive coefficients in quadratic term indicates in fact that the relationship between age and the variables of interest is of a convex form. In comparison with women outside the labour market, working women are significantly found to be more open to both foreign policies (EU membership and unification with Romania), as well as to the federalization policy measure, but against the NATO membership. This clearly suggest their positive attitude toward “cooperative internationalism” with EU and Romania (the Western neighbours), and the rejection of “militant internationalism” (reflected here by the NATO membership). Our finding is supported by previous papers, such as [ 49 ]. In comparison with lower levels of educational attainments, individuals with higher levels are found to be more supportive for the “cooperative internationalism” and federalization, but not for “militant internationalism” as well. The result is largely confirmed by the empirical evidence collected over time from US. Different channels have been advanced in the literature as mechanisms explaining the relationship between education and (foreign) policy attitudes or political trust. Higher educated people have been found to generally support internationalist policies, while the less educated have been identified as supporting the isolationist policies [ 50 ]. Despite the rich empirical evidence suggesting that the highly educated were in favour of militant internationalism in the 1970s, this association has weakened over time. Still, some evidence confirms that education is directly associated to the militant internationalism, and indirectly related to cooperative internationalism. In contrast [ 51 ], shows that those having college educational attainments support the cooperative internationalism stronger than the militant internationalism. Other papers suggest that education experience help the development of political interest that is generally shaped by the class differences [ 52 ]. Education is also found to be the most important predictor of political knowledge, even after accounting for personality traits and intelligence [ 53 ]. The positive impact of education in Models ( 1 )–( 3 ) can be also explained by the strong correlation between education and political trust [ 54 ]. From a different perspective, our results are in line with the “centre-periphery theory” [ 27 ] according to which a low level of education indicates a “periphery” position which is associated to the opposition to the EU, as also indicated by our results. Despite our expectation that people who have lived abroad for a while are more open to internationalization, or at least have stronger beliefs in the area of foreign policy, being influenced by the EU or Russia political spectrums, the EU and Russia being the most popular destinations for Moldovan immigrants, this hypothesis was not confirmed by the data analysis. The Gagauz people are a Turkic people living mostly in a Sothern autonomous region of Moldova, officially called the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia. In the framework of the 2014 referendum that took place in Gagauzia, 98.4% of voters chose to join the Eurasian Union, supported and promoted by Russia, instead of the EU. The regression coefficients indicate that Gagauz people, who represent a small ethnic minority in Moldova, have significant and strong negative attitudes toward all four policy measures considered in our model. This is according to our expectations, and it relies on the regional political conflicts running for decades in the ATU, as well as on the fear that the Moldovan Gagauz will end up in “a new version of greater Romania” [ 44 ]. Nevertheless, the specific political context in which Gagauz people have lived over time under the influence of surrounding countries, justifies their opposition to any significant political change in Moldova that directly or indirectly could threaten their autonomy as well. The literature also confirms the opposition of “distinctive ethnic identities” to the militant internationalism [ 49 ], which supports our finding in Model 3 . According to our results, in spite of Moldova’s oscillation between the Russia way and European Union path, Moldovans are found to be in favour of the Moldova’s EU membership. However, the NATO membership is not a seen as an appropriate foreign policy measure for Moldova, not by Moldovans, and nor by Gagauz people, and one explanation could be the strong Russian opposition [ 55 ]. For a comprehensive conceptual delimitation, the influence of poverty is analysed by three variables which are indicative for both the objective and subjective poverty. Objective poverty is reflected by two indicators, i.e. income poverty and deprivation, and subjective poverty is reflected by a categorical variable. While income poverty is found to have no significant effect on our policy measures, deprivation is found to be a significant correlate of all foreign policy attitudes in the sense that the deprived people are more likely to be against all three foreign policies, even though the policies do not overlap each other. In turn, deprivation has no significant impact on federalization—the reference domestic policy measure. The relationship between deprivation and foreign policy attitudes has not been addressed so far in the literature upon our knowledge, but the links between material stratification and political consciousness have been assessed as fragile and variable [ 47 ]. People who perceive themselves as being income poor are against the EU membership and also against the unification with Romania, but they would agree on the Moldova’s federalization. In fact our results suggest that, in contrast with the people objectively identified as income poor, those suffering from deprivation and subjective poverty are in opposition with all policy measures involving openness and internationalization. Even though the relationship between poverty and foreign policy attitudes has not been addressed so far in the literature, our empirical findings could rely on the “centre-periphery theory” [ 27 ] which states that periphery is “parochial” and “sceptical” on issues reaching beyond national concern. Another category of explanatory variables are from the area of satisfaction. People satisfied with the Moldova’s economic situation are more likely to agree with all policy measures, excepting the NATO membership. It is interesting to note that those who declare to be satisfied with the foreign policy in general, would vote for the Moldova’s unification with Romania and NATO membership, but against federalization. The level of social trust, represented here by the variable “Trust in people”, is found to be negatively correlated with the votes for the EU membership and unification with Romania. This is in contrast with the literature which considers social trust as being associated with social participation and engagement in the society, and therefore as a driver for democratic and efficient governments [ 56 ]. However, our finding should be interpreted in the context of the interpersonal trust in Moldova being among the lowest in Europe, i.e. 3.7 times lower compared to that of Sweden, and the lowest of the post-communist countries [ 57 ]. Despite the fact that Moldova is a country of mass emigration, to Russia and Ukraine for short-term periods and to the EU for long term staying, it is interesting to capture the Moldovan’s attitudes toward refugees and to see whether it is related to the attitudes toward foreign policies. We expect to find that people who are in favour of the right for people to seek refuge should also support the Moldova’s EU membership, as the EU is an effective actor for peace and democracy. In a broader perspective we expect to get a strong relationship between a positive attitude toward refugees and o positive attitude to all types of internationalisation foreign policies. The empirical results confirm that our expectations are met. The attitudes toward refugees also reflect the Moldovans’ opinion about whether Moldova should provide or not protection to refugees. Our results show that those who support the idea that Moldova should help refugees, also support all political measures, i.e. the both types of cooperative and militant internationalism policies. This empirical finding relies in the social trust theory mentioned above [ 56 ], being therefore in line with the literature. The Russia’s political influence on the Moldova’s foreign policy attitudes is transmitted inter alia by the Russian communication channels, and this is clearly confirmed by the negative sign of all coefficients which are significant in all four models. People trusting the Russian communication channels strongly reject all political measures which however are rejected by the Russia governments as well [ 37 ]. The exception at this point could be the measure of federalization. The level-2 explanatory variables are less significant in our models compared to the Level-1 variables, but are important for our analysis because they allow also considering the geographical dimension, which would be in line with a large strand of literature on foreign policy attitudes [ 58 ]. At the regional Level, the centre-periphery theory frames our results which adds new empirical evidence over the body of papers emphasizing that the “periphery” will “either favour the status-quo, or sudden and complete changes” [ 27 ] resulting therefore in a difference in attitudes between the centre and the periphery of the society, as also underlined by [ 28 ]. In contrast with the central districts which support the unification with Romania, the South Moldovan districts are found to be in opposition with the EU membership and in favour of federalization. According to [ 59 ], the rural-urban divide, the distance of rural areas from the capital, and the loss of influence in politics in many rural areas have both leaded to different levels of trust and attitudes of population living in rural areas. In our paper, the rural districts have been found agree on the unification with Romania, which is a very sensitive issue on the Chișinău political agenda. The findings at the regional level also reflect the internal political tensions and the spatial dimension of the foreign policy attitudes in Moldova. Conclusions and policy recommendationsThe aim of the paper was to provide a better understanding of foreign policy attitudes in Moldova, with a focus on their relation with different indicators of poverty, ethnicity and other individual- and regional level characteristics. The multilevel analysis enabled us to provide a regional picture of foreign policy attitudes which fits the specific peculiarities of a country divided by ethnic, regional and political conflicts. As already explained, the paper contributes to the literature twofold. First, it addresses for the first time the issue of foreign policy attitudes in Moldova, and moreover it frames the analysis in a regional dimension. The existing strand of literature on foreign policy attitudes mainly explores the militant and cooperative internationalism having the US as case-study. Extending the analysis of foreign policy attitudes across other contexts and countries, but on the same axe of cooperative internationalism- militant internationalism- isolationism, facilitates the international comparability of results, interpretation and policies. In this regard, our study follows the line of research developed by [ 18 , 19 ], and it adds empirical evidence over issues previously formulated by [ 4 ]. Secondly, our paper introduces for the first time poverty in the study of public opinions on foreign policy, which allows considering the impact of a prevailing social issue in Moldova. The most important findings will be resumed here, but an extensive analysis of all empirical results is done in the previous section. Some policy recommendations will be formulated at the end of the section. Although the unification with Romania and the EU membership represent two distinct foreign policy measures, the impact and significance of their individual level- correlates are almost similar, which proves that becoming member of the EU or a part of Romania are similarly perceived by Moldovans. One explanation is that Romania is an EU member. However, it is interesting to note at this point that Romania is not seen as a big “grabbing” country, but rather as a step toward the EU membership. In comparison with the other foreign policy measures analysed here, the NATO membership appears as a difficult policy decision for Moldova, given the lack of significance of most of its correlates. Nevertheless, individuals who are satisfied with Moldova’s foreign policy are found to also agree with the NATO membership, which might suggest that the supporters of NATO membership perceive this policy measure as an extension of the current foreign policy. The empirical results reflect a number of common patterns behind all foreign policy measures analysed here. The Russian media influence, being Gagauz, and the opposition to the government decision to eventually help refugees, are found to be all strongly associated with the disapproval of all foreign policy measures. The ethnic identity plays an important role in explaining foreign policy attitudes because, beside Gagauzians who strongly reject all foreign policies, Moldovans agree with the EU membership. The ethnic dimension is even further deepened by the regional dimension, which reflects the geographical perspective. This analysis unveils that rural population supports the idea of unification with Romania, as well as the Centre region which is “more rural” compared to the other regions, while the Southern districts, which concentrate a higher proportion of Gagauzians, disagree with the EU membership and support the idea of federalization. The relationship between foreign policy attitudes and poverty was at the core of empirical investigation. Different types of poverty indicators have been comparatively analysed, and to facilitate a broader conceptualisation of poverty, a score of deprivation (multidimensional poverty) has been derived from a number of seven deprivation items. Compared to the other poverty measures, deprivation is found to be the only one being significantly related with negative foreign policy attitudes in three models (excepting federalisation). We place this finding in the framework of the “centre-periphery theory” [ 27 ], interpreted under the umbrella of peripheralization, which emphasizes the political scepticism of the “social” periphery, represented here by the deprived population. Although our paper is not primarily aimed to examine whether the foreign policy attitudes in Moldova are structured or not, the overall empirical results, and especially the similarity in the impact that most correlates have on all foreign policy attitudes models, indicate their lack of structure and consistency. This is in line with most findings in the literature on foreign policy attitudes [ 5 , 12 , 22 ]. The usefulness of the paper results go beyond the area of the domestic policy design. In the last decades, the role of public opinion in the structuring of EU foreign policy has increased and has become more complex, as a consequence of the growing role of the European foreign and security policy facing more and more challenges without and within the EU borders. Moldova is a potential new candidate for EU membership. In this light, understanding the foreign policy attitudes in Moldova could provide valuable insights for the EU policy makers, analysts and strategists. Equally, exploring a new dataset on a non-EU country oscillating between Russia and the EU could provide new insights over a small country, insufficiently explored in the international literature. The links between foreign policy attitudes, ethnicity, regionalism and poverty in Moldova could be further examined in more details, and one theory allowing to capture all these issues into a unitary framework could be the “centre-periphery” theory. This could be a future direction in the analysis of foreign policy attitudes in Moldova that can bring additional empirical insights with useful implications in the economic and social policy area. Supporting informationFunding statement. The study is funded by the Erasmus+ Jean Monnet Chair programme. Jean Monnet Chair: Monica Raileanu Szeles Grant nr. 609500-EPP-1-2019-1-RO-EPPJMO-CHAIR. Funder: European Commission https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus-plus/actions/jean-monnet_en . The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Data Availability
Decision Letter 0PONE-D-20-29273 A regional approach to foreign policy attitudes, poverty and ethnicity in Moldova Dear Dr. Raileanu Szeles, Thank you for submitting your manuscript to PLOS ONE. After careful consideration, we feel that it has merit but does not fully meet PLOS ONE’s publication criteria as it currently stands. Therefore, we invite you to submit a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the points raised during the review process. You should revise the manuscript according to all the reviewers' comments. In particular:
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The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented. Reviewer #1: Yes Reviewer #2: Yes 2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously? Reviewer #2: I Don't Know 3. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available? The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. 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(Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters) Reviewer #1: General Comments The paper titled “A regional approach to foreign policy attitudes, poverty and ethnicity in Moldova” deals with an interesting topic, focused on a well-centred perspective. It is under the scope of the Journal and, in my view, it provides a better understanding of foreign policy attitudes in Moldova, with a focus on their relation with different indicators of poverty, ethnicity and other individual- and regional level characteristics. It constitutes an interesting focus for reflection. This work is well written and easily understandable. The structure of the paper, the revision of the literature and the method are well designed. Results and conclusions are very well supported by the literature as well as the empirical analysis. I give some pieces of advice to the authors to improve the paper, particularly for providing a more detailed explanation in some sections. I think that this more comprehensive explanation will contribute to the fluency of reading as well as to the understanding of the econometric modelling. Specific Comments When the two-level variance components model is explained in section 3. Methods, the authors provide a description of all components of equation (1), except the component referred to the group level residual. Although this becomes perfectly clear when you continue reading the work, it is convenient to specify it the first time it is cited. In the paragraph in which the main variables of interest are described (section 4. Ethno-geopolitical context and Data, in the section dedicated to data), it would be interesting to directly justify the variables chosen according to the academic literature referred to in the previous sections. I want to point out a minor format matter in the last paragraph of the third section (Methods) since there is a different font format to the rest of the paper. Reviewer #2: The flow of information throughout the paper is well structured. Very informative piece of work The main contributions of the submitted article are: (1) It provides a clear analysis of public opinion on foreign policy for Moldova. It adds an alternative view to the literature in its field since most of the studies are US-based. (2) It also connects regional patterns and socio-economics issues such as poverty and ethnicities with public perception on various foreign policies currently present in the Moldovan society. Additional Comments: - The title of the paper is misleading based on the scope of the article. - Abstract is hard to read. It does not provide a clear path of what the paper wants to achieve. - Please, provide more details regarding data availability within the manuscripts and supporting information files. This is not clear at all. - Kindly, provide a brief context on the Transnistria conflict within your article. Why the conflict was not briefly described in the paper? - Page 8: Attention to details. References used in the preparation of the paper were not found in the references section. For instance, See Baltag (2013) - Page 8: It is not clear to readers, what is the pro-poor economic growth of 5%. Please, clarify or add more details. - Page 8: What do you mean by regional perspective? At this stage, It is not very clear to readers. Please, provide more details. - Typo on page 8: "the most important ethnic groups in Moldova ae Romanians" - Page 10: "but rather as latent values explaining the factor loadings according to the factor analysis". Kindly, provide more details, since it is not clear to readers. - Page 12: " then the use of multilevel models becomes totally justified" Add references to support your approach. - Page 14: " In the equation below". Shouldn't be in the equation above? - Page 16. Provide some context/details about the use of Age square in your analysis. - Typo on page 17: "patters" - Typo on page 19: "detoted" - Page 19: Please, provide clarification, details for CTT - Page 21: is TV missing from Fig 2? If so, there is inconsistency with comments and table 2 on Page 20. - Page 25: By reading the following "However, the NATO membership is not a seen as an appropriate foreign policy measure for Moldova, not by Moldovans, and nor by Gagauz people, and one explanation could be the strong Russian opposition (Schelegel, 2018). Aren't Gagauz people Moldovan citizens? The paragraph could imply a different interpretation. Please, clarify. - Typo on page 25: "are in opposition with the all policy" Please, remove 'the' - Page 26: The information provided about attitudes toward refugees is almost negligible. Add more text regarding refugees in Moldova. 6. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article ( what does this mean? ). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files. If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public. Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy . Reviewer #1: No [NOTE: If reviewer comments were submitted as an attachment file, they will be attached to this email and accessible via the submission site. Please log into your account, locate the manuscript record, and check for the action link "View Attachments". If this link does not appear, there are no attachment files.] While revising your submission, please upload your figure files to the Preflight Analysis and Conversion Engine (PACE) digital diagnostic tool, https://pacev2.apexcovantage.com/ . PACE helps ensure that figures meet PLOS requirements. To use PACE, you must first register as a user. Registration is free. Then, login and navigate to the UPLOAD tab, where you will find detailed instructions on how to use the tool. If you encounter any issues or have any questions when using PACE, please email PLOS at gro.solp@serugif . Please note that Supporting Information files do not need this step. Author response to Decision Letter 0Response to reviewers Reviewer #1: General Comments 1.1 When the two-level variance components model is explained in section 3. Methods, the authors provide a description of all components of equation (1), except the component referred to the group level residual. Although this becomes perfectly clear when you continue reading the work, it is convenient to specify it the first time it is cited. R. I introduced a short explanation about the group level error (eq.1, section 3) 1.2 In the paragraph in which the main variables of interest are described (section 4. Ethno-geopolitical context and Data, in the section dedicated to data), it would be interesting to directly justify the variables chosen according to the academic literature referred to in the previous sections. R. I introduced a new paragraph (p.10) to justify the selection of variables according to the literature. The selection of the four dependent variables as vectors of foreign policy is extensively motivated in several sections as Introduction and the first sub-section of section 4 (entitled The substance of foreign policy attitudes in Moldova). I checked the last paragraph of the third section (Methods) and I didn’t find a different font format to the rest of the paper (TNR12). Reviewer #2: R. I reformulated the title of the paper. R. I reformulated some parts of the Abstract. R. A large paragraph about the data availability and dataset description is the first one at the beginning of section Data (p.9). The dataset is freely provided online by the Institute for Public Policies in Moldova (as also mentioned in the paper). R. I included a brief presentation of the Transnistria conflict at p.9 of the section “The substance of foreign policy attitudes in Moldova”. R. Yes, I corrected. R. A footnote was added to provide an additional explanation in this regard. R. An additional explanation was added in Introduction at p.3. R. I made the correction. R. I reformulated a little bit for more clarity. R. I added a reference in this regard. R. Yes, thank you! I made the correction. R. I added an explanation in this regard at p.19 (at the point where explaining the effect of age). R. The ICC is described at p.15 (just above Fig.2). R. I introduced a new paragraph providing more information about the Gaguz people, just above the paragraph cited by reviewer. R. I added more text regarding refugees in Moldova. Submitted filename: Response to reviewers November 2020.docx Decision Letter 129 Dec 2020 PONE-D-20-29273R1 We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements. Within one week, you’ll receive an e-mail detailing the required amendments. When these have been addressed, you’ll receive a formal acceptance letter and your manuscript will be scheduled for publication. An invoice for payment will follow shortly after the formal acceptance. To ensure an efficient process, please log into Editorial Manager at http://www.editorialmanager.com/pone/ , click the 'Update My Information' link at the top of the page, and double check that your user information is up-to-date. If you have any billing related questions, please contact our Author Billing department directly at gro.solp@gnillibrohtua . If your institution or institutions have a press office, please notify them about your upcoming paper to help maximize its impact. If they’ll be preparing press materials, please inform our press team as soon as possible -- no later than 48 hours after receiving the formal acceptance. Your manuscript will remain under strict press embargo until 2 pm Eastern Time on the date of publication. For more information, please contact gro.solp@sserpeno . Additional Editor Comments (optional): 1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation. Reviewer #2: All comments have been addressed 2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions? 3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously? 4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available? 5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English? 6. Review Comments to the Author Reviewer #2: The flow of information throughout the paper makes this piece of work easy to follow. Very informative and well-structured research manuscript. Few typos were identified, particularly in the new paragraphs added to the latest version of the manuscript. 7. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article ( what does this mean? ). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files. Acceptance letter30 Dec 2020 Dear Dr. Răileanu Szeles: I'm pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been deemed suitable for publication in PLOS ONE. Congratulations! Your manuscript is now with our production department. If your institution or institutions have a press office, please let them know about your upcoming paper now to help maximize its impact. If they'll be preparing press materials, please inform our press team within the next 48 hours. Your manuscript will remain under strict press embargo until 2 pm Eastern Time on the date of publication. For more information please contact gro.solp@sserpeno . If we can help with anything else, please email us at gro.solp@enosolp . Thank you for submitting your work to PLOS ONE and supporting open access. PLOS ONE Editorial Office Staff on behalf of Dr. María Carmen Díaz Roldán
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To All The WorldThe world is a confusing place right now. We believe that faithful proclamation of the gospel is what our hostile and disoriented world needs. Do you believe that too? Help TGC bring biblical wisdom to the confusing issues across the world by making a gift to our international work. Winner Announcement: TGC’s 2024 Essay Contest for Young AdultsMore by staff.  Gen Z is a generation that faces the temptation to avoid hard things. With phones to hide behind, it’s easier than ever to get lost in a virtual world instead of facing the real world . Scripture tells us we shouldn’t be surprised when we face trials in this life as if something strange were happening to us, and that we can even rejoice in trials (1 Pet. 1:6–7; 4:12–13). Our young writers are learning this countercultural lesson. We have a God who cares more about our Christ-conformity than our comfort, and this is good news. Over the past few months, we’ve had the privilege of reading the submissions to The Gospel Coalition’s 2024 Essay Contest for Young Adults . Nearly 200 young writers submitted original essays, and the editorial team reviewed them. These writers shared personal testimonies of their wrestling with God as they faced debilitating illness, societal pressure, and unfulfilled desires. We were impressed by their self-reflections on what they were pursuing more than God, whether it was acceptance into university, dream jobs, or the phones in their pockets. Their writing displayed their desire to treasure Christ above all else. Thoughtful WritersThe essays TGC received came from 183 young writers:
Many of these young writers poured out their hearts as they shared about times when God, in his love, withheld something from them. Others wrote of how they moved from clinging to their phones to clinging to Christ. Some shared how they see the need for men and women like themselves to give their lives to vocational ministry to reach the 3 billion people with no access to the gospel. Our hearts were warmed as we read stories of Gen Z Christians refusing the lies their culture is feeding them. Instead, they’re inviting us to taste and see with them that the Lord is good (Ps. 34:8). Personal ReflectionsIn TGC’s contest guidelines , we provided three prompts that allowed writers to reflect on their own lives as a means of speaking to their generation. Gen Zers are stereotypically called “screenagers” for spending a considerable amount of time on the internet. One prompt asked, “How has the gospel changed your relationship with your phone?” Many who chose this prompt were aware of their temptation to depend on their devices. They want to view their phones as tools, not as extra limbs. Other writers shared why they’re considering full-time vocational ministry, knowing it’ll come at great cost. They’re willing to lay aside dream jobs with well-paying salaries for the sake of serving the Lord. Having to stand firm in the faith amid a deconstructing culture, they see themselves as equipped to reach their generation. The most selected prompt was “When did the Lord love you by not giving you what you wanted?” By withholding something these young people wanted (though it was often a good thing), the Lord in his kindness revealed sin in their lives, drawing them closer to himself. What a beautiful picture of what our loving Father does for us, his children (Heb. 12:5–11). We pray your hearts will be warmed and your souls edified as you read these essays (and TGC will be publishing more of them over the coming months). Among the essays, three pieces stood out as well-crafted, thoughtful, and engaging. Our editorial team was clear about which winners to select, and we’re delighted to publish them on the site for you to read. First Place: “ Who Was ‘i’ Without My iPhone? ” by Luke Simon Luke opens his essay with these words: “Steve Jobs might’ve been a prophet. Or he at least predicted how his device would shape my future. After all, he placed the ‘i’ next to ‘Phone.’” Behind his screen, Luke Simon became luk3simon, forging a new identity and avoiding reality—and ultimately God. Eventually, he realized he needed a digital detox. Luke gives us practical ways to unhitch our identities from our phones, pointing us to the hope found in Jesus alone. Second Place: “ How God’s ‘No’ to My Dream School Was a ‘Yes’ to the Local Church ” by Logan Watters In her inspiring essay, Logan tells of how membership in a faithful, gospel-preaching church was a better pursuit than her dream school. And this made no sense to her friends. When we seek the Lord’s will and his plans above our own, the self-seeking world around us is left confused. Logan writes, “After a taste of [God’s] plans compared to mine, I don’t want anything else.” Third Place: “ The Lord Loved Me by Giving Me a Broken Family ” by Karsten Harrison In his essay, Karsten sees God’s love through unanswered prayer. Speaking to those who come from broken families, Karsten brings hope by pointing to the Lord’s steadfast love and the rich fellowship found with our church family. He writes, “God doesn’t simply give whatever we ask. Instead, we pray that his will would be accomplished, thus aligning our wills with his.” May we learn with him that God’s “No” always comes from his love for us and invites us to depend on him. Take time today to read these essays and praise God for his faithfulness in his love toward us: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. (Lam. 3:22–23) Read more essays from young adults: 2022 and 2023 Contest Winners. Now Trending1 richard hays thinks god changed his mind about same-sex sex. is he right, 2 ‘rings of power’ season 2: getting better, still flawed, 3 the 11 beliefs you should know about jehovah’s witnesses when they knock at the door, 4 honor your parents as you obey the great commission, 5 themelios 49.2.  The Curious Case of the Christian Reformed ChurchThe CRC traveled far down the road toward theological liberalism—and then hit the brakes. 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Sheetal Devi, paralympian archer, captivates the world with a bull’s-eye in opening roundTeam India's archer Sheetal Devi introduced herself to the world at the 2024 Paralympics in Paris by way of a perfect bull's-eye. Devi, 17, is one of four armless archers competing at the Paralympics, and the only woman. Team USA's Matt Stutzman, Belgium’s Piotr Van Montagu, Mexico’s Víctor Sardina Viveros do not have arms and use other body parts, like their feet, to load and fire a bow and arrow. Devi has gone viral, with nearly 50 million views in one clip posted to X , for firing a bull’s-eye during the 1/8 elimination round of the women’s individual compound open event.  "Oh, what a start for Devi," the announcer said as the crowd roared. Devi thanked the person who posted the clip. "You’re the inspiration of billions of people now," the person responded. "May you always keep shining bright." Responses to the clip have praised Devi, who went on to lose the round by a single point and was unable to advance to the quarterfinal. Devi went on to win bronze along with Rakesh Kumar in the mixed compound archery event on Sept. 2. She has other titles to her name. In 2023, she became the first female armless archer to win a medal at the Para World Championships, Olympics.com reported. She was also a gold medalist in at the Asian Para Games in 2023. "Look how calm she is .. brilliantly done," one user wrote in response to a video of her bull’s-eye. "Sheetal Devi is poetry in motion," another said. "Pure bullseye! Absolutely impressive!!" a third added. Devi was born without fully formed arms due to a rare congenital disorder called phocomelia that leads to underdeveloped limbs, Olympics.com reported. She has been "athletically gifted" since childhood, per Olympics.com. She got into archery following a youth event organized by the Indian Army in 2021. Army coaches saw her "innate athleticism and confidence," the outlet reported. U.S. archer Matt Stutzman, who was born without arms, has been a mentor to Devi, according to Paralympics.org. “I want her to be successful,” Stutzman, who pioneered the technique Devi uses, told Paralympics.org. Stutzman, who is at the 2024 Paralympics, also told the publication archers like Devi make him "OK" with the idea of retirement. “I can retire now and be OK with everything. I’ve done really well, but the fact that we have other armless archers is way more important. It builds archery,” he said.  Randi Richardson is a reporter for NBC News' TODAY.com based in Brooklyn.  Paralympic runner Jaryd Clifford disqualified due to ‘critical mistake’ before 3rd place finish Frances Tiafoe shouts out Tony Goldwyn at US Open: ‘Me and my girl used to watch “Scandal” all the time’Pop culture.  Who is Taylor Fritz’s girlfriend? What to know about Morgan Riddle South Carolina basketball star Ashlyn Watkins is charged with assault and kidnapping Para archer Jodie Grinham becomes 1st athlete to win Paralympics medal while pregnant Johnny Gaudreau's wife speaks out following his tragic death: 'You were perfect' Ryan Lochte shares video of his recovery 9 months after near-fatal car crash Defending champion Novak Djokovic loses to Alexei Popyrin in U.S. Open I’m a Paralympian. We’re not your ‘inspiration’ — we’re elite athletes ‘Unimaginable tragedy’: NHL star Johnny Gaudreau and brother die in bike accidentCelebrating the Voices of Our Gen Z Colleagues: Insights and Advice Across Generations
At R Systems, celebrating our diverse team is what makes us thrive! Each generation brings something special to the table, and it’s important to recognize and value these unique perspectives. Today, we’re shining a spotlight on our amazing Gen Z colleagues. These bright young talents aren’t just the future of our company—they’re a vital part of its present. Their fresh ideas and innovative spirit are helping us bridge generational gaps and create a more inclusive, forward-thinking environment. As part of our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, we’ve invited 14 of our Gen Z team members to share their achievements and offer advice to both older and younger generations. Their words remind us that while each generation has its challenges, we are all connected by our shared experiences and our collective journey toward a better future. Denisa V., 23 – Software Engineer, RomaniaDenisa joined R Systems as a Java Academy intern two years ago. Now, after proving herself an essential team member, she is excited to share she graduated to become a seasoned software developer and is eager to take on new challenges. Denisa asks for patience from Millennials as Gen Z continues to navigate the complexities of adulthood. “ We’re still learning and figuring things out—mistakes are part of the process ,” she reminds them. To those who will follow, she advises, “ Be kind to yourself, avoid constant comparison, and focus on your own journey .”  Harshit K, 22 – Associate Software Engineer, India At only 22, Harshit’s accomplishments set him up for a great future ahead. He’s trained over 1400 students in Google Cloud, published 4 research papers, and led his university’s Google Developer Student Club. He sees the experience and passion of Millennials as something magical, capable of inspiring and transforming the world around us. He urges them to continue harnessing this expertise in innovative ways. To those who follow, he advises, “ Learn about AI as soon as possible. It’s going to be even more dominant in the future. Mihai S., 25 – Junior Software Engineer, RomaniaMihai graduated top of the class with his Bachelor’s in Computer Science and his Master’s in Artificial Intelligence, and he is now on his way to becoming a Certified Kubernetes Administrator. He encourages Millennials to shift their focus from mere numbers to understanding the people behind the data. “ Look beyond spreadsheets and remember the human element , ” he suggests. To Alpha generations, he offers a reminder to seek happiness and self-improvement, advising, “ Don’t stay in a career just because you’ve invested time in it—be proud of your achievements and pursue what truly makes you happy . “  Daniela P., 19 – Project Assistant, Republic of Moldova Daniela’s journey led her to be part of the Young European Ambassadors program (an EU initiative focused on empowering youth in Eastern Partnership countries), where she organized over 150 events designed to raise awareness of EU policies and culture. She also led a team of 100 ambassadors and developed strategic outreach campaigns and activities. She sees immense value in the knowledge of Millennials and encourages them to share it freely. “ Embrace the flexibility of remote work—it’s a chance to combine professional and personal comfort, ” she suggests. To Alpha generations, she emphasizes, “ Invest in your mental and physical health now; it will pay off in the long run. “ Bruce K., 26 – Marketing Executive, MalaysiaIn high school, Bruce discovered his love for music, sports, and leadership. He founded a music club, led a student sports team, and represented his school in state basketball. While studying Marketing at university, he founded a music production company that went on to reach 1 million views on one of their YouTube videos. Bruce advises Millennials to stay open to change, especially with the rapid pace of technological advancements. “ Embrace new tools and methods—they can significantly enhance productivity, ” he says. To Alpha generations, he suggests, “ Cultivate adaptability, stay hungry for knowledge, and build strong communication skills. “  Gaurav S., 25 – Software Engineer, India Gaurav takes great pride in the IoT project he was part of, where he took care of production issues and made sure issues were proactively solved before the client’s customers raised them. He believes that learning is a lifelong journey and encourages Millennials and older colleagues to never stop expanding their knowledge. “ No matter your age, there’s always something new to learn ,” he says. For those coming after, he advises maintaining a sense of curiosity, emphasizing, “ Always ask questions—it’s how we innovate and grow .” Kanika S., 22 – Trainee Software Engineer, IndiaWhile on her way to becoming an accomplished software engineer, Kanika did not forget her passion for art. Her YouTube channel, dedicated to her art, is continuously growing, and in her free time, she is working with an NGO to spread her love of art to less fortunate children. She offers heartfelt advice to prioritize family over the pursuit of work and money. “ Family time is invaluable; don’t sacrifice it for career ambitions, ” she urges Millennials. To her peers and those younger, she suggests, “ Do what makes you happy—finding joy outside of work is key to long-term well-being .”  Rithikl B., 27 – Services and Support Engineer, India Rithikl has been passionate about volunteering since 2018. He’s helped children with their studies, participated in planting events, and distributed food and water in rural areas. His dedication earned him several Freedom Employability Academy (F.E.A) medals. To Millennials, he emphasizes the importance of choosing a profession that genuinely brings joy. He advises, “ Reflect on your career choices and seek paths that align with your passions.” For younger colleagues, he underscores the value of continuous learning and personal development, adding a quote passed on by his teacher, “ Life is like ice cream—enjoy it before it melts. ” Daniel L., 25 – 1st Line Support Engineer, PolandDaniel is a man of many activities. He’s been playing the saxophone for the past nine years, successfully tutoring school students in mathematics and physics, learning somersault, and he was able to ride a bike for 130 km in one day. He encourages Millennials to understand the unique challenges faced by younger people. “ Try to see things from our perspective rather than comparing it to your own experiences ,” he advises. To those coming after, he offers a simple but profound suggestion: “ Listen to your heart, pursue what you love, and don’t forget the importance of strong relationships. “  Stefania M., 26 – HR Business Partner, Romania Volunteering comes naturally to Stefania. At 19, she led a team of 40 volunteers to deliver English workshops on personal development and global awareness to over 1,400 kids in rural Romania. She has continued her volunteer work ever since, including within our company. She suggests Millennials reflect on their youth when interacting with younger colleagues. “ Times have changed, but the fundamental needs and struggles remain similar ,” she says, urging empathy and understanding. She encourages mutual support for Alpha generations, adding, “ It’s okay to follow different paths—time will pass regardless, so take opportunities and be flexible. “ Ionuț S., 25 – Software Engineer, RomaniaFor Ionuț, software development is truly a passion, and he never backs down from a challenge. For his undergraduate exam, he developed a GPS mobile app and the required documentation in just four days—“ a real hackathon, ” he calls it. He advises Millennials to be more mindful of work-life balance. “ Personal time and well-being are crucial for long-term happiness, ” he notes. He highlights the importance of flexibility and adaptability for the following generations, urging them to “ embrace change, adapt to new technologies, and remain open to new ways of working. “  Sarfaraz A., 23 – Associate Software Engineer, India Sarfaraz achieved a 10 CGPA in high school and continued to balance his academics with sports in college while excelling in inter-college badminton tournaments. He also led a team to develop three projects, including an AI chatbot, a school management system, and a tracking app for women. He urges Millennials to embrace new technology and continuously update their skills. “ Staying current can open up new opportunities, ” he points out while stressing the importance of mental health: “ Prioritize self-care and seek support when needed. ” He advises younger peers to “ maintain curiosity and embrace diversity—it’s key to success in a changing world.” Gabriela C., 26 – Office Admin, Republic of MoldovaGabriela studied Economics, but her desire for knowledge didn’t let her stop there. She went on to learn graphic design, getting her Adobe certifications in Illustrator and Photoshop. She also did some volunteering, and in 2019, she was involved in a six-week project in Turkey—Discover Adana. She reminds Millennials that it’s never too late to seize opportunities. “ It’s like planting a tree—the best time was yesterday, but the second best is today, ” she says. For Alpha generations, she encourages a mindset of resilience, advising, “ Take risks, and don’t fear failure—it’s how we learn and grow. ”  Kinga L., 22 – Software Engineer, PolandKinga’s list of accomplishments deserves an article on its own. She started working on basic algorithm implementations in high school, and by the time she finished university, she designed an AI acoustic analysis system. This year she accomplished an important milestone in her career, receiving her first AI certification. She encourages Millennials to be open and receptive to the fresh perspectives that younger coworkers bring. “ Share your hobbies and work experience—we value your mentorship ,” she suggests. For those following, she highlights, “ Keep learning, stay up-to-date with technology, and balance work with life to avoid burnout. ” Bottom LineThe perspectives and experiences of our Gen Z colleagues enrich our workplace and remind us of the importance of diversity in all its forms. As we celebrate these young talents, let’s continue to foster an environment where every voice is heard, every idea is valued, and every generation learns from one another. Together, we can build a stronger, more inclusive, and innovative world. Leave a Comment Cancel ReplyYour email address will not be published. Required fields are marked * This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed . Apply to this jobSend your cv. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Moldova has experienced a sharp downturn in its economy in the last ten years. In 1998, the gross domestic product (GDP) was 35 percent of the 1989 level, and the state is unable to pay pensions and salaries on time. As a result, more people produce food and other necessities for themselves now than in the 1980s.
The culture of Moldova is unique and influenced by the Romanian origins of its majority population, as well as the Slavic and minority Gagauz populations. The traditional Latin origins of Romanian culture reach back to the 2nd century, the period of Roman colonization in Dacia. A Moldovan postage stamp from 1992, depicting traditional pottery.
The traditions in Moldova are primarily related to national music, dances, songs, and food, wine, as well as ornamentation arts and crafts. Many of the modern traditions are a product of crossing between geto-daci culture and the culture of other civilizations like the Greeks, the Slavs, and most of all the Romans.
"Discover Moldova 's rich cultural heritage and avoid cultural missteps during your travels.". Exploring Moldovan Culture: Traditions, Customs, Language, and Etiquette Moldova is a small country located in Eastern Europe, bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. Despite its size, Moldova has a rich and diverse culture that is worth exploring.
The Culture Of Moldova Local Moldovan wine is a popular beverage in the country. The landlocked Eastern European country of Moldova hosts a population of around 3,437,720 inhabitants. Ethnic Moldovans comprise 75.1% of the total population of the country. Romanians, Ukrainians, Russians, Bulgarians, and others constitute the rest of the country ...
Moldova, landlocked country lying in the northeastern corner of the Balkan region of Europe. Its capital city is Chișinău, located in the south-central part of the country. Formerly known as Bessarabia, this region was an integral part of the Romanian principality of Moldavia until 1812, when it was ceded to Russia by its suzerain, the sultan ...
Moldova is a country with a rich tapestry of multiple ... that claims the existence of a shared transborder identity held together by usage of the Russian language or common culture (Kosienkowski, 2021). ... European Diversity and Autonomy Papers. p.14. Yarovaya, G. (2024). "Subject to the criminal code of the Republic of Moldova ...
Moldova's rich culture goes back to Roman times, with the ancient overlay colored by Byzantine, Magyar, Serbian, Ottoman, Russian, and Soviet influences. From the 19th century onwards, European and French elements were added, forming a varied, lively and resilient lifestyle expressed in traditions, festivals, the arts, music, dance, and ...
This is an examination of the Romanian-speaking people of Moldova who have been subject to multiple cultural and political influences through the centuries. ... Search 220,375,339 papers from all fields of science. Search. Sign In Create Free Account. Corpus ID: 141688298; Studies in Moldovan : the history, culture, language and contemporary ...
The culture of the Republic of Moldova represents a large gamut of cultural activities: literature, theatre, music, fine arts, architecture, cinematography, broadcasting and television, photographic art, design, circus, folk art, archives and libraries, books editing, scientific research, cultural tourism and so on. Interpretative Art Three concert performing institutions carry out the ...
The Republic of Moldova is home to 4,460,000 people. It covers 13,143 square miles and is bordered by the Ukraine on one side and Romania on the other. The capital city is Chisinau, population 735,000. The language of Moldova is Romanian, although Russian and a Turkish dialect called Gagauz are also spoken.
The culture of Moldova is a combination of Romanian culture and Soviet culture. The traditional Latin origins of Romanian culture reach back to the 2nd century, the period of Roman colonization in Dacia. During the centuries following the Roman withdrawal in 271, the population of the region was influenced by contact with the Byzantine Empire ...
Cucuteni-Trypillian culture boundaries. In 2010, Oldowan flint tools were discovered at Dubasari on the lower Dniester that are 800,000-1.2 million years old demonstrating that early humans were present in Moldova during the early paleolithic. [1] [2] [3] During prehistoric times there was a succession of cultures that flourished in the land of present-day Moldova from the end of the ice ...
The culture of Moldova is unique and influenced by the Romanian origins of its majority population, as well as the Slavic and minority Gagauz populations. [ 1] The traditional Latin origins of Romanian culture reach back to the 2nd century, the period of Roman colonization in Dacia . During the centuries following the Roman withdrawal in 271 ...
Drinking culture in Moldova is closely linked to social traditions, with hospitality and the sharing of drinks playing a major role in family and social gatherings. Wine tastings and visits to wine cellars are an essential part of Moldovan culture and offer an insight into the country's rich history and traditions.
Culture, Travel & Sport Moldova with kids: An honest guide. August 31, 2024. 6 Min Read. Marian Männi. Marian Männi. Share This! Twitter; LinkedIn; ... Moldova's best-known theme park may be the miniature Kozy village filled with goats. And the only beaches are bits of sand by the Valea Morilor lake or the river Nistru. But if the goal is ...
Moldova (formerly Moldavia) is a landlocked republic of hilly plains lying east of the Carpathian Mountains between the Prut and Dniester (Dnestr) rivers. The country is sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine. The region is very fertile, with rich black soil (chernozem) covering three-quarters of the territory.
Map of Europe, showing Moldova (green) and Romania (orange). A controversy exists over the national identity and name of the native language of the main ethnic group in Moldova.The issue more frequently disputed is whether Moldovans constitute a subgroup of Romanians or a separate ethnic group. While there is wide agreement about the existence of a common language, the controversy persists ...
Moldova - Politics, Constitution, Society: A new constitution, which replaced the 1978 document that had provided for a Soviet-style government structure, was approved by the Moldovan parliament in July 1994 and promulgated on August 27 of that year. Describing the republic as a "sovereign, independent" state in which "justice and political pluralism" are guaranteed, this constitution ...
Angela PIRLOG 1. Abstract. The paper represents a comparative study of national culture features of the. main commercial partners of the Republic of Moldova and the countries. preferred by ...
Cultural Norms: This relational approach reflects Moldova's collectivistic culture, where group harmony and long-term relationships are important. Typical Strategies. Indirect Communication: Direct confrontation is generally avoided. Negotiators might use subtle hints, proverbs, or stories to convey their points indirectly while maintaining ...
Key points to remember about Moldova and its culture: Moldova has a complex history rooted in the medieval Principality of Moldavia, with significant influences from Russian and Soviet rule. ... We translate a wide range of documents, including legal papers, medical records, academic transcripts, and business communications.
Romanianism regards Moldova as a regional variation of the Romanian history and culture, the complementarity being in their view the link between Romania and Moldova. The debates emerging at every level of society around the Moldova's national identity have also fed the political conflict, with deep implications for the foreign policy too.
Find out which young writers placed first, second, and third in TGC's 2024 essay contest—and what the church can learn from the more than 180 submissions. Gen Z Christians are refusing the lies their culture is feeding them. Instead, they're inviting us to taste and see with them that the Lord is good. ... Having to stand firm in the faith ...
Team India's archer Sheetal Devi introduced herself to the world at the 2024 Paralympics in Paris by way of a perfect bull's-eye. Devi, 17, is one of four armless archers competing at the ...
Daniela P., 19 - Project Assistant, Republic of Moldova Daniela's journey led her to be part of the Young European Ambassadors program (an EU initiative focused on empowering youth in Eastern Partnership countries), where she organized over 150 events designed to raise awareness of EU policies and culture.