Moldova’s youth hope for change from afar · Global Voices
A man walks past a painting of anxiously waiting parents in Moldova's capital Chișinău, 2014. Photo: Misha_Tokyo / Flickr. CC BY 2.0
This article is made possible through a partnership with Transitions, a Prague-based publishing and media training organisation
The Republic of Moldova is blessed with a mild climate, bucolic landscapes, popular wine, and empty villages. Moldovans are leaving en masse; their country now has one of the fastest shrinking populations in the world. Poverty, constant political upheaval, and deeply embedded corruption have convinced many to buy a one-way ticket. Some become seasonal economic migrants, returning for a few months every year. Others, many of them highly educated, prefer to leave for good. According to a UNFPA study from 2016 , if no effective measures are taken by Moldova's government to improve the quality of life, in 15 years the country's population, estimated at just under three million, could decline by 24 per cent.
It's hard to establish the precise number of Moldovans living and working abroad. The National Bureau of Statistics estimates around 800,000 but the number could be as high as two million when counting those who left the country using another other passports. Moldova recognises multiple citizenships, and many Moldovan citizens can claim an EU passport from neighbouring Romania (both countries were united between 1918 and 1940.)
Almost 80% of those who emigrate are between 18 and 35 years old, increasing pressure on the local economy as the working-age population declines. According to the World Bank, 40% of those who migrate have a higher education, contributing to the country's “brain drain.” Much like the country's geopolitical situation, Moldovans’ migration preferences are divided between East and West; 80% of Moldovan migrants are concentrated in three states: the Russian Federation, Italy, and Portugal.
In light of recent political changes, now is a good time to consider the effects of this mass emigration on Moldova's domestic politics. Are young Moldovans abroad still committed to fighting for a better future in a country they have left behind? Was emigration for them a sign of resignation in hope of change at home? And does the emigration of the youth rob the country of its chances to push out a discredited elite and achieve lasting change? I spoke to several Moldovans living overseas to understand their perspectives.
“I am sometimes a bit jealous of these young people in the West who were never confronted with the idea of leaving their countries because they didn't have any future there… I guess it's difficult for them to understand us,” says <PERSON> (pseudonym), a 33-year-old Moldovan citizen who has spent the last decade of her life in Greece.
Ever since losing her mother to cancer at the age of nine, <PERSON> dreamed of becoming a doctor. 739
Years of hard study paid off when she was admitted to the College of Medicine in Chișinău, the Moldovan capital. “I was used to hardship, so didn't expect this new stage to be easy,” recalls <PERSON>, whose two younger siblings remained in her home village. “I still had to take care of them, as my Dad had left for Moscow to support us. I used to work as a nurse for a while, but with a salary of 2,000 Lei (about €100), it was impossible to save anything. So I decided to go abroad.”
Ana's decision to emigrate came several years before Moldova secured a visa-free regime with the EU in 2014. “Getting a work visa for a western country was a hassle, and there were fewer agencies dealing with this sort of issue compared to today. I considered myself extremely fortunate when I got a summer job in Greece. I wasn't doing anything related to my studies but I was paid much more than when I was a nurse in Moldova, so I decided to stay longer and save more. I knew I would become an illegal immigrant but, at that point, I couldn't see any chance of survival back home. Neither do I now, 13 years later,” concludes <PERSON> with a sad smile.
This grim outlook, widely shared among Moldovan emigres, has repercussions for their country's electoral politics. According to <PERSON>, a political science researcher at the Justus-Liebig-Univerität in Giessen, Germany, “emigration is ageing both the labour force and the pool of voters. Consequently, the political choices and the electoral behaviour of the older voters shows more reluctance towards progressive views and politicians. 1010