[War & Business] Moldova on the Brink

On the 27th of last month (local time), the Moldovan Honor Guard marched carrying the national flag for the National Flag Day ceremony in Chi?in?u, the capital of Moldova. Chi?in?u (Moldova) = Reuters·Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] Moldova, known as the smallest and poorest country in Eastern Europe, was originally part of Romania and was called the "breakwater of Europe." In the 15th century, when the Ottoman Turk Empire, the predecessor of modern-day Turkey, invaded Eastern Europe, it was known as the Principality of Moldavia and fought against the Turk army along with the neighboring Principality of Transylvania and the Principality of Wallachia.

The war with the Turk army, which lasted over 100 years, became the background for the legend of the vampire "Dracula." Vlad III, a Romanian hero who resisted the Turk army until the end in the areas of Romania and Moldova, was called Dracula, meaning "Son of the Dragon." To instill fear in the enemy, he executed prisoners in various cruel ways, which led to the depiction of him as a vampire and the beginning of the Dracula legend.

However, in the 19th century, the Russian Empire occupied Moldova and called it Russian Bessarabia, separating it from Romanian history. Especially because Moldova had some of the most fertile land in Europe, the Russian Empire forcibly relocated many Russian peasants there to strengthen its effective control, causing the number of Russian residents to increase rapidly.

Even afterward, Romania and Russia repeatedly fought over Moldova until 1944, when the Soviet Union, then a superpower, forcibly incorporated Moldova into the USSR. After the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, reunification with Romania was discussed again, but due to Russian pressure and Romania's economic difficulties, the unification failed, and Moldova became an independent country separate from Romania.

Although independent, Moldova emerged as a landlocked country with a small territory about one-third the size of South Korea and without a single port city. Moreover, Moldova, a purely agricultural region with no significant industry or technology developed since the Soviet era, is considered a country almost incapable of economic self-sufficiency. As the economic crisis prolonged, the population sharply declined from about 4 million at independence to around 2.5 million, with most residents seeking jobs in neighboring Romania, Ukraine, and Russia.

Even this small territory is divided east to west. About 15% of the total population, known as Russian residents, have established a pro-Russian independent regime in the Transnistria region on the eastern border, supported by Russia. Since declaring independence in 1992, Russian troops have been stationed there under the guise of peacekeepers.

The European Union (EU) is also concerned that Russia might attempt to escalate the conflict in Moldova. If Moldova is occupied by Russia, most Moldovan residents of Romanian descent would flood into Romania, causing serious chaos and threatening the defense line of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The international community is holding its breath, watching the fate of Moldova, once again pushed into the precarious role of Europe's breakwater.