The humanitarian crisis is the first consequence of the war in Ukraine felt in Chișinău, the capital of Moldova, but civil society is mobilizing to welcome Ukrainian refugees. Dozens of volunteers, installed in a building in the center of the city, take turns to coordinate the support provided to their neighbors. Transport, accommodation, food… all the information is centralized there.
In a large room where many young people are busy behind laptops, there is also a Ukrainian refugee who is involved in this solidarity action: “These people are fantastic, amazing, so calm. They have panicked people in front of them in need of reassurance. They are my friends now. I am so grateful”confides Natalia Soboleva to the magazine “We the Europeans” (replay).
“A third of the population lives below the poverty line”
A great wave of solidarity that manifests itself in a very poor country. “It’s not just a poor country, but the poorest country in Europe, says Constanza Dohotaru, member of the Moldova For Peace association. According to our statistics, more than a third of the population lives below the poverty line. People are offering everything they have: their accommodation, the food they have in their fridge, transporting refugees… They really are offering everything they have.”
“They do it first because Ukrainians are our neighbours. We have a lot of empathy for them, we suffer with them, she adds. In 1992, we also had a war when the Russians from Transnistria attacked us. Our parents and grandparents remember that. We are also very afraid that Russia will go further and attack Moldova. We can’t concentrate and work. So, getting involved, offering our help, is a way of warding off this fear, this anguish that we feel.”
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