“Bonjour Cafe” is the small cafe in a park in the Moldovan capital Chisinau. Arkandi and his girlfriend Irina are drinking their coffee at a small table, trying to forget for a moment that just a three-hour drive from the capital rages a war.
“We are afraid that the war could reach this far,” said the 33-year-old Moldovan. “I doubt that the people here in Moldova look like Ukrainians. “They will stop, they will defeat them and they will be repelled, so that we do not have to become refugees like so many Ukrainians.”
There is widespread concern among Moldovans about a possible extension of the war to their own country. “People are afraid that the country will be attacked by Russian forces seeking to occupy Odessa, which is less than 100 kilometers from the Moldovan border. Moldova has never had a military power that is taken seriously.
Moldova rushed to apply for EU membership
The small former Soviet republic is, in essence, divided by the declaration of independence in 1991. In Russia-dependent Transnistria, which in addition to 1,700 Russian troops is stationed about 17,000 reservists, and the Republic of Moldova with an army of about 6,000 men. Moldova has opted for neutrality since 1993, but Moscow has never taken it into account, says former ambassador Igor Mudeanu
When Ukraine applied for EU membership on March 1st, both Moldova and Georgia rushed to do the same. Moldovans seek refuge under European roof. Let them know that the process will take time. At present nothing seems to be able to reassure the Moldovans that they too will not fall victim to a Russian invasion.
Clemens Ferencote, BR
Edited by: Stefanos Georgakopoulos
Source: Deutsche Welle
Source: Capital
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