In war, former British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain once said, there are always losers, no matter which side declares itself victorious in the end. A sentence that we can only approve of when we are a peace lover. But it is not always true. Chamberlain himself was the tragic signatory of the Munich Accords with Hitler, agreements meant to bring “peace for our times” in 1938, and which soon after resulted in all-out war.
For two and a half years, Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine has raged, and no peace is in sight. It is currently difficult to predict what the European order will look like after this conflict, but we are entitled to assume that, for some of the actors in the region, the consequences of this confrontation will not only be negative. At least if everything goes as well as possible. That is, if Ukraine does not lose.
In southwestern Europe, Moldova and Romania, immediate neighbors of the country attacked by Russia, currently have at least one advantage, even if they face many disadvantages. They’re under pressure, but they’re also suddenly getting more attention. From the periphery of Europe, they have now moved to the center. This new interest could improve the long-term prospects of these two Eastern European countries.
Proving yourself on immigration
In Bucharest as in Chisinau, people say they are determined to consider the region’s existential crisis as an opportunity not to be missed. “Romania was a peripheral country of the EU but, due to the security crisis and the war in Ukraine, it finds itself in the center of the EU,” said Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu in an interview with German journalists in Bucharest.
The geopolitical situation offers Romania the possibility of overcoming a v
