Remember? There Is Such A Country As Moldova!

A concise foreword


It's almost three years since the Moldovan society ousted the Communists (PCRM) from power, as the non-Communist parties have been ruling this country. In the article below I am not going to bring figures and statistics to persuade, I'd rather ground on my feelings of a journalist with my eyes permanently on the developments in the Republic of Moldova. On the other hand, the figures and statistics and the opinion polls abound in this country, though the custom here is not to trust them with one's whole heart. 


A general conclusion is that the heroic spirit has somewhat waned since the Summer and especially Autumn of 2009. The people's (voters') trust in the winning parties and enthusiasm for reform have fallen, too. During the Communists' era, former president Voronin was largely viewed as THE father of the nation. Now the ruling pro-West three-party alliance has failed in forwarding a national leader, while the leaders of the three parties can't help leering at one another. For a paternalist  society, as the Moldovan one is, it's hard psychologically. People need to have a leader at whom they may project their hopes, and also a scape-goat in case of failure and disappointment.




Religion


The main and largest religious organization -- the Moldovan Metropolitan Church, a subsidiary to the Russian Patriarchate -- is having a hard time. Last Friday the Moldovan Parliament passed and, last Monday, the President sealed the Law on the Equality of Chances, which discourages discrimination. The problem there was that that law also condemns the discrimination of homosexuals. 


In its pre-adoption stage, the draft was much debated within society, with the Orthodox Church disapproving of the notion of "sexual orientation" in the paper. There were protests, news conferences and dirty words traded, especially on behalf of the Balti bishop Marchel.

Then, on Friday (May 25) and on Monday (May 28), some priests and hard-line Orthodox lay people went as far as to demand the resignation of the metropolitan bishop of Moldova and Chisinau, Vladimir. It's canonically done by the Muscovite Patriarchate, so there were clergy eager to ask Patriarch Kirill to fire Vladimir, for not being too keen to oppose the adoption of the controversial law.

Metropolitan Bishop Vladimir reacted by an encyclic, deploring the adoption of the law and heralding a moral decadence of the society, but, at the same time, he regretted the disunion within the Church. Right may be some observers, who guessed there was nothing 'homo' in all the clergy's stirs about this law, it's just a fight for the see of the Moldovan Orthodox Church, craved for by the Balti bishop, as neither other Moldovan bishops should be ruled out.

It's not clear what's the attitude of the big majority of the population as to this law, but it should be kept in mind that the Moldovan society is far from being too civilized, given its (recent) history and the steady brain-flow that this country has been experiencing since stating its Independence in 1991. One cannot speak of  much tolerance for any minorities here, as the sexual minorities may get contempt in the best case, and public lapidation in the worst.

The barbaric zeal of some of the clerics from the Moldovan Church for  fighting sexual non-discrimination churned up the last intellectuals -- religiously moderate -- who resolved not to attend "such a church" or to join the Bessarabian Orthodox Church, a subsidiary of the Romanian Patriarchate. Echoes were heard in (print) media and on social networks that the 'Russian' Church from Moldova will remain only with the village elderly. More and more intellectuals, columnists and opinion leaders avow Moldova needs an Orthodox Church of its own.

Although not approving of the 'sexual orientation' phrase from the law, the other (smaller) religious organizations from Moldova did not make such a fuss about it as the Moldovan orthodox hard-liners and clergy did. The latter ones have gone as far  as to demand the anathema of the 53 MPs who voted the law, plus the prime-minister, the president, the chair judge of the Constitutional Court and the Justice minister. Things have never been so bad in the Moldovan Orthodox Church since Soviet times.




Society and Culture


Poverty is overwhelming in the countryside. More and more villages a left without inhabitants. People migrate to towns, to Chisinau or abroad. Fewer and fewer children are born. Fresh graduates of teacher-training universities are reluctant to go and teach kids in villages, they prefer (illegal) jobs abroad and low-paying jobs in Chisinau and Balti, Moldova's biggest cities. 


The labor migration keeps this country running, otherwise there would be no money to pay for utilities and consumer goods. The worst side of the emigration is that it tears apart families - the cells of society as Marx put it. The ratio of divorces to marriages has been 1/2 for 15 years at least. Children are being reared without one and often both parents by grandparents and relatives. It teaches them money can buy everything and deteriorates their psyche.

Moldova's reputation for a state hesitating, balancing between East and West finds its projection within the ethnic mindset of  the Moldovan citizens. Not all the Moldovans have yet decided whether they ARE also Romanians or just Moldovans, in terms of ethnicity. Meanwhile, the (Russian-speaking) national minorities keep up their propensity for hating everything Romanian and 'liking' the Moldovans. The left-wing political parties maintain the spirits high by scaring the Russian-speakers that Romania just craves for occupying Moldova. Much resilience is displayed towards learning and speaking the official Romanian (Moldovan, - in the Constitution) language, especially by the Gagauz civil servants and by the pro-Russian parties and social movements.  


The Moldovans have never been too much of 'hard' readers: this was pointed out by the Moldavian scholar prince of the 18th century Dimitrie Cantemir, and by the present-day opinion polls. Television is overwhelming the Moldovans' minds, as the Internet is grasping more and more ground. The (young) people realize that reading is not going to make you rich soon and consequently stay hands crossed or seek for jobs abroad.

However, despite general scarceness, the wedding and christening parties, as well as the funerals tend to get more and more expensive both for the organizers and attendants. The theaters, churches and museums are not complaining of mass invasions.


Government

Woe to the poor government of Moldova! What remedies, what means has it not tried to fulfill its electoral slogan 'Moldova without poverty'? Alas, everything seems to be in vain. Some are afraid to think of what may happen to this country unless the IMF stretches it a helpful hand. The last invention of the Government  was to postpone by a year the return of the extra-taxes that citizens may have paid. During the Communists'  times, Voronin used to harass the big-shark businesses. Now this Government strips the poor of their weak hope that Moldova may NOT be a failing state.

The politicians from the ruling parties used to have a golden excuse for keeping things NOT running: the lack of a full-fledged President. One has been elected on March 16th, and the things don't seem to gain momentum fast enough. The impression is that the romantic politicians who were in political opposition three years ago, now have turned into coarse bureaucrats, fearing their mandate would not last enough to make them a decent fortune.

This Government promised the Moldovans they would go -- visa free -- to Europe starting 2013. Now, this Government's top dignitaries say they miscalculated the time and the efforts and the people's determination and everything. Approaching Europe, becoming European in mentality and, the boldest would say, joining the EU was a nice 'national idea(l)' until not long ago, but it's loosing its catch with the people. The ones who very much wanted to leave and work abroad have already done so either illegally or with Romanian and Bulgarian passports.

Education and medical workers, road police and judges: everybody in this country knows they have price lists for solving any problem you may have. Sometimes they even catch one another red-handed, but, again, everybody knows here they have families to feed, too. Was it Transparency International that found that the state structure corruption index has worsened after the non-Communists came to power in Moldova, or was it a report by the US State Department? I think both.


Economy and Infrastructure


The general feeling is nobody wants to sell anything in this country, as the majority keep their money tight and open their wallets just for the strictly necessary. However, the private mobile telephony operators are known to do well, while the fixed telephony state-owned operator Moldtelecom is known to pass through hard times. Experts say Moldova may have lost its chance to sell its national operator at a good price. Fewer and fewer need and use office or home phones -- it's a world trend. 


The state-own cigarette-maker is said to head towards the bankruptcy pit, the biggest state-owned bakery hardly makes it, although the managers of the crippling state-owned enterprises are envied, even hated for having abnormally big wages of tens (hundreds) of thousands of lei per month, while the average salary here is 2-4 thousands.

The economy displayed signs of improvement in 2010 and 2011, but the figures looked dim  in the first quarter of 2012. Moldova has climbed several steps in the World Bank's 'Doing Business' report, however there are no signs it's become any easier to start and operate a business in this country, compared, say, to the Communist decade. On the contrary, more and more small (and bigger) businesses are noticed to close. There is no feeling of fair competition, however there are rumors that certain economic (only?!) branches are 'protected' by certain politicians (oligarchs, as the saying goes here.)

The good thing is that roads are being repaired more and more, not without western financial support. The flights will become cheaper and the banks (the most known ones) are robust, though offer expensive loans and cheap deposits. The media is only sector booming with freedom, not with prosperity.


An even shorter afterword


The labor migration is Moldva's biggest and luck and misfortune. Without those migrant workers Moldova  would have failed long ago, they are still keeping it not dying. Meanwhile, the morals worsen, the new generation can't be taught morals by their mom and dad, as it's been for millennia. It's hard to say what's going to become of these kids of the migrants when grown-up. The jails are already overcrowded.

The shortage in middle-age people makes but fragile Moldova's Western course: many of them are not at home to vote. The left-wing parties prophesy the West is all evil, and try to ferry  the country Eastwards. It's feared that the elderly may buy the lie and the Communists still may return to power, also given the natural erosion of the credibility of any government. Having split apart from the Soviet Union, Moldova HAS BECOME  a capitalist country, but most of its population do not have a free-market mindset. It may still be Europe's favorite barbarian in the Eastern Partnership, but as any barbarian Moldova still may get drunk and hysterical, because predictable it has never been.