Europe's New Nation

Usually, a country forms under two conditions. Either by getting divided from a country or by being united with another country. In the history of our world, most countries were formed by dividing bigger nations. In the recent past, we can see examples of these conditions, such as Germany and Yugoslavia. Over a period of 17 years, Yugoslavia was divided into seven different countries. As for Germany, East and West Germany united under the same flag and formed a single country again. As we speak, two countries in Eastern Europe are trying to unite for the same purpose: to become stronger. These countries are Moldova and Romania.

To understand this situation, let's look deeper. In 1991, the mighty USSR was divided into 15 different countries. But before that, Moldova was already making plans to separate. Two years before the collapse of the USSR, the official language of Moldova was changed to Romanian. The majority of the population had stopped seeing themselves as part of the USSR. However, there is also the opposite situation. In Transnistria, which is now within the borders of Moldova, the situation is exactly the opposite. They never wanted to separate from the USSR. In Transnistria, the official language is Russian. They are completely different from Romania in terms of culture. Even their flag has the sickle and hammer. They use the USSR’s red star everywhere. They have a giant Lenin statue in front of their council building. Street names are the same. In conclusion, Moldova is an unofficially divided country. The western half wants to be closer to Europe, while the other half wants to unite with Russia. For this exact reason, Moldova is neither European nor Russian. An average Moldovan earns roughly 50 euros per month, which is extremely low by European standards. Because of this, young Moldovans are trying to go to other countries to work and live. When the USSR was breaking apart, Ukraine took the entire coastline, which led to vast economic opportunities. Moldova does not have petroleum or natural gas reserves. Today, Moldova doesn't even have a stable electricity source. They are the poorest country in Europe but in a single night, their money could be worth four times more; they could gain access to the Schengen visa, petroleum reserves in the Black Sea, NATO membership, and strong security guarantees. All of this could happen overnight.

Romania and Moldova are nearly the same nation. We can see that even in their flags. They are like the arms of the same person. They speak the same language. Their national dance is Hora. Their cuisines are the same, and their national dish is Mamaliga. They are both Christians. Finally, their celebrations are the same too. March 1st is the welcoming of spring for both countries. The only difference is the border. But as we see, they are considering removing that. However, this isn't as easy as it seems. Russia is also involved in this situation.

After the recent meeting in both nations’ councils, Putin made a statement. He said that this isn't unification; it is occupation. Russia's security policy demands two things: that countries that were formerly part of the Soviet Union maintain their cultural ties with Russia, and that NATO not expand toward Russia. If Romania and Moldova unite, both of these things Russia opposes will happen. Romania is already a part of NATO, and Moldova is close to becoming a part of the European Union. Their air and sea borders are already gone this year, and they are planning to remove their land borders too. They will also use the euro. We saw how Russia reacted to the violation of its security policies in Ukraine. If this happens, Moldova could be further divided. As we know, Transnistria wants to be a part of Russia. In the south of Moldova, there are Gagauz Turks. They want to be free from Moldova, but they don't want to be part of Romania or Russia.

All in all, there are three possibilities. The first one is that nothing happens and everyone continues to live as they were. The second one is that Moldova separates into three parts. One unites with Romania, and the other two (Gagauzia and Transnistria) become independent states. The last possibility is that Moldova unites with Romania, Gagauzia becomes free, and Russia occupies Transnistria. But whatever happens, what we know now is that Europe will change in the near future.