Joining the EU: What would it mean for young Moldovans?

Sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine and located north of the Danube River, Moldova has a population of 2.6 million people and spans a mere 33,846 km². Despite its size, the Balkan state is a melting pot of cultures and ethnicities. 

The current pro-EU government in Chişinău is trying to fast forward the EU accession process but, pro-Russian opposition parties are calling residents to strengthen partnerships with Moldova's eastern neighbours instead.

The majority of Moldovans are backing the government’s plans to join the European Union by 2030 but, there are also fears, particularly among the elderly and within Russian-speaking communities in Moldova, that EU integration is a bad idea.

To get a complete picture, Euronews caught up with three young Moldovans - Rusanda, a pro-European cultural worker living in a tiny village in the Moldovan countryside; Nikita, a 20-year-old International relations student who admires “strong leaders like Viktor Orbán, Vladimir Putin and Alexandr Lukashenko" and Nadejda, a 26-years-old businesswoman, hoping to sell her Moldovan-made peanut butter across the bloc through the European Single Market.

The first stop on Hans' list was Hîrtop, a small village with approximately 1,000 inhabitants. Here he met Rusanda, a cultural and environmental activist who leads a network of villages trying to stem the rural exodus by developing and promoting access to art and culture in rural areas and within marginalised groups.

"There are many nationalities in Moldova and we are a multilinguistic society. So, we respect this diversity... European culture is not only about diversity but also about critical thinking, critical discourses. And it’s about community building”, Rusanda said.

Next, Hans met a