The authorities in the Republic of Moldova for now cope with the pressure generated by the refugee crisis following the war in Ukraine. The efforts made by the authorities to solve this extremely difficult problem with the very modest capacities of the country deserve to be praised, the standing expert of IPN’s project Igor Boțan stated in a public debate on the issue hosted by IPN News Agency.
The expert said that Moldova was recently visited by high-ranking European officials and also by the U.S. secretary of states and these visits were mainly aimed at strengthening Moldova’s capacities to cope with the high flow of refugees. “The messages delivered by the European and American officials were positive. The Republic of Moldova is also strengthening its capacities to cope with the flow of refugees,” stated Igor Boțan.
He noted that nine in ten refugees who chose the Republic of Moldova not only as a transit country on the way to other European countries were already housed by families. “The Ukrainians represent approximately 10% of the population of the Republic of Moldova. This mostly explains such a state of affairs”.
Igor Boțan said localities are attacked during this war and older people and mothers with children have no other way out than to flee their homes. “The flow of refugees is a direct effect of the aggression started against an independent state. A part of the territory is already under the control of the occupation forces, while other localities are subject to shelling. What else can the people do to save their lives, primarily the lives of children and older people who can survive only if they seek refuge.”
The expert said the propaganda related to the Ukrainian refugees should be definitely combated as the truth is the first victim in times of war. The truth now became a victim due to the very intense propaganda aimed at discrediting Ukraine and at justifying the Russian aggression against Ukraine. Unbiased media outlets that weren’t controlled by the Russian government were closed in Russia as the truth is unsuitable and is therefore suppressed.
According to Igor Boțan, they aim to cause tensions between refugees and Moldovans through the agency of propaganda. The figure of over 107,000 refugees who stopped in Moldova is large for the capacities of the Republic of Moldova that has a population of about 2 million people. Therefore, the task of the authorities is to fight any kind of propaganda. The Moldovans have empathy for the Ukrainian refugees and help them and the circulation of false information should be evidently stopped.
In another development, the expert said that during 30 years, the separatist conflicts in the ex-Soviet states were somehow frozen. They were now unfrozen and this is a danger for Moldova society. “In theory, there is the legal framework and there is the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova and there is no place for maneuvers for renouncing neutrality or the status of unitary state. In practical terms, there are problems that worsen depending on the way in which the leaders in Tiraspol behave during Russia’s war against Ukraine. In this connection, close monitoring is needed so as to see what concrete steps are taken and so that the authorities take action to annihilate eventual dangers threatening the Republic of Moldova.”
The public debate titled “Refugees: Ukrainian exam for Moldovan society’s resilience” was the 227th installment of IPN’s project “Developing Political Culture through Public Debates” that is implemented with support from the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
