MoldovAnn

I spoke to Sasha in Chisinau again tonight. Western news has repeatedly reported that internet was cut off in Moldova, but I was skeptical since I’ve personally been emailing with friends and there is plenty of blogging from Moldova. Sasha said that external internet traffic had been shut down (ie Facebook, vKontakte, etc), but internal traffic had been and continues to be “on”, although overloaded by excessive demand. I’ve exchanged emails the last couple of days with friends in Moldova, so apparently not all external traffic was cut off- maybe just access to websites but it doesn’t seem like email was affected.

There has been a “Romanian” flavor to the demonstrations – the protesters took down the Moldovan flag and raised the Romanian flag. But as Sasha put it, only a bit sarcastically, no part of Moldova has been under any particular government for more than 30 years. For sure a big part of Moldova has no interest in “reuniting” with Romania. The not insignificant ethnic Bulgarian population, for instance, still feel intense loyalty to Russia for the refuge the Tsar gave them 180 years ago when they fled Turkish-occupied Bulgaria. The Gagauzians, Ukrainians and Russians living in Moldova are also not at all interested in joining Romania. The minorities may seem small in number, but in a country of 4 million, any population is significant. While I feel little sympathy for Russian-language fanatics in Ukraine (I mean, if I could understand 50% of Ukrainian the first day I set foot here just because I spoke Russian, and now after just 3 1/2 years in Ukraine I can understand 90%, I just don’t buy it that life-long Russian-speaking residents don’t understand Ukrainian), I feel immense sympathy for the Russian-speaking population of Moldova in their alienation from the majority Romanian-speaking population. Different alphabets, different language families – except for a few cross-over words, there’s really nothing in common to help one with the other. The Russian speakers are really isolated and cut-off from the majority’s experience.

I have yet to read any news report that even acknowledges another point of view from the pro-Romanian one. Kudos to The New York Times for getting a reporter on the ground in Chisinau, but the flaw is still as strong as ever in their reduction of regional bureaus and attempt to use Moscow as their hub for Eurasia. How can a reporter even begin to understand the complex nuances of what’s happening in Moldova if they arrived on the spot a day after the shit hit the fan? What local expertise or understanding does a journalist have if they view the world from the lens of Moscow? Russia is at least half of the problem.

There have been reports of the government blocking all but state-run pro-government TV channels from the airwaves. How about the parts of southern Moldova that get their news exclusively from Moscow, and don’t even receive Chisinau channels? How about the 318 fully funded spots Russia gives to Molodovans (RUS) to study in Russia? Of the 2800 fully-funded scholarships for citizens of the former Soviet Republics, the second largest number of scholarships goes to citizens of a a country with the fifth smallest population of the 14 countries where Russia offers these scholarships. Only Georgia, with a slightly larger population, gets more free rides to study in Russia than Moldova. It’s a brilliant and subtle way to exert influence, if you ask me. I know one of the Moldovan kids studying in Russia on one of those scholarships – believe me, he thinks Russia is the best thing to ever happen!