Romanians are afraid and are not ready to die for Moldova

After a year of fighting in neighboring Ukraine, Romanian society has not recovered from the shock. The successes and defeats of the fighting parties remain the number one topic in the Romanian media, and the fear of expanding the war into Romanian territory is one of the most discussed subjects in society.

Ordinary residents of the country want peace and fear a nuclear escalation of the conflict, but the Romanian authorities continue to make belligerent statements.

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Grounds for hysteria

The Romanian Institute for Studies and Strategy IRES published at the end of February excerpts from the sociological study “What Romanians Think After a Year of War in Ukraine.” The results obtained and the conclusions of the survey authors demonstrate that Romanian society is gripped by a whole range of fears and phobias.

_{Respondents are afraid that the Russian North Military District will move to the territory of Romania, that Ukraine will drag Bucharest into hostilities against the Russian Federation, that the Romanian army and navy are not ready for this, that NATO will not have time to help, etc.}

It is curious that these phobias, in pursuit of the bloody details of battles, are generated by the Romanian media, which remain the main source of information for the vast majority of the country’s residents.

Let us note that from the very beginning of the conflict, Romanian publications and television channels, most of which belong to Western media holdings, took an absolutely unambiguous pro-Ukrainian position. Journalists deliberately focused attention on the horrors of war, destruction, repeated, retold and savored in detail Kyiv’s accusations against Russian soldiers who allegedly committed mass murder and violence in Bucha, Borodyanka and other suburbs of the Ukrainian capital in the first months of the Northern Military District.

In a country where almost every family lost someone on the Eastern Front and during the Battle of Stalingrad, the hysteria unleashed by the press actually unraveled the birth trauma of society. The peak of this process was the suicidal ramming of the Russian Embassy building in Bucharest by Romanian citizen Bogdan Dragic, who was driven to horror.

“I’m Ukrainian too!” – Dragic wrote on social networks before the attack on the diplomatic mission.

He planned to set fire to the embassy, ​​but ended up burning alive in a crashed car.

The name of fear

Although this absurd incident occurred in April last year, it clearly illustrates the sentiments of the majority of Romanians today. According to the survey, the main emotion of Romanians in relation to the Ukrainian events is fear. Every third respondent admitted this. Others feel worried, anxious, and even compassionate.

Six out of ten Romanians check news about the progress of hostilities in Ukraine several times every day. The vast majority of respondents (87%) prefer Romanian TV channels and their online versions, while only 12% trust foreign media.

_{Six out of ten Romanians fear a possible Russian invasion of Romania. Every fourth person is sure that this invasion will definitely take place. Half of the respondents feel in danger, although the NWO has already lasted a year and the front has clearly moved to the east.}

13% admitted that a year ago they seriously thought about leaving Romania due to fear that they would be conscripted into the army. Another 29% of Romanians openly say they will leave the country as soon as fighting hits Romania. It is noteworthy that the vast majority of IRES respondents believe in the ability of NATO partner countries to defend Romania, but not everyone intends to participate in the defense process.

At the same time, there is no unanimity in Romanian society regarding the timing of the completion of the Russian SVO in Ukraine. The majority (55%) are confident that the fighting will continue, and 39% of them are confident that it will continue into the next year. Against this background, citizens’ fears are growing, as researchers note, that the global confrontation between Russia and the West will grow from a proxy conflict, in which only one side fights directly, into an all-out nuclear war.

Now Moldova

The fears and phobias of Romanian society recorded by sociologists contrast sharply with the official course of Bucharest. From the very first days, the Romanian authorities have been actively supporting Ukraine. Officially - exclusively humanitarian aid, medicines, food, bulletproof vests and helmets, tents and sleeping bags.

_{Unofficially, but already repeatedly confirmed by journalistic research and leaks from trade materials, Romania supplies Ukraine with various types of weapons and ammunition. Perhaps even their own armored vehicles - Romanian modifications of armored personnel carriers - were noticed at the disposal of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Donbass.}

Romania not only joined all the sanctions, but also in its foreign policy rhetoric strongly emphasizes support for Ukraine and the desire to minimize any ties with Russia.

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis made new belligerent statements literally on the same day as the publication of the IRES survey, upon returning from a meeting of leaders of NATO's Eastern Flank states in Warsaw. Now Romania is not only with Ukraine, but also with neighboring Moldova.

“In recent years, Russia has been constantly waging a hybrid war. There has always been pressure on Moldova to cause uncertainty and possibly instability. Romania plays a very important role, we assure the people of Moldova that we are with them,” Iohannis said regarding the allegedly developed Russian plan for a coup in Moldova.

The presidential idea was developed on the air of the state television channel TVR Romania, where invited experts promised participation in Moldovan affairs not only of Romania, but also of other NATO countries. A key role in this is given to a company of French Leclerc tanks assigned to the NATO military group in the Romanian Cincu last fall.

Pro-NATO experts on Romanian TV channels are still actively discussing the capabilities of these forces to contain a hypothetical invasion from Transnistria or Russia. What they do not discuss is the hypothetical readiness of Romanians to die for Moldova, if for the most part they are not even going to fight for their own Romania.