Abstract

Moldova is a borderland, lying geographically between Slavic Russia and the modern, liberal states of the European Union. Historically, it took shape after the rise of a multicultural Ottoman Empire to its south and the disintegrating remains of the old Holy Roman Empire to its west. These influences remain, but long before modern history it was on the invasion path between Eastern and Western Eurasia, which itself was divided between Orthodox Christianity and Roman Catholicism. Centuries of wars and occupation left a deep ethnic mark on Moldova, consisting of Dacian, Tartar, Roman, Greek, Ottoman, Russian, Magyar, and Jewish cultures. They all left their mark on Moldovan national identity, which was acquired by accommodating a cultural mix that required negotiation and tolerance which remains part of the Moldovan national identity today. This article looks at the “national question” around the example of Moldova.