Europe: Material Changes and Geographical Imaginaries

Following the Communist Party's election in 2001

, the opposition (re-) introduced 'Europe' as its own key symbol in political debates. In political terms, several parties constitute the opposition; in 2001 the primary opposition party was the Partidul Popular Crestin Democrat (Christian Democratic Popular Party, PPCD). The 'opposition,' however, is also a social category, and the lines MBT Shoes On Sale between the two blur, as individuals often claim to be against the Communist Party without also claiming a distinct preference for another party. This, for example, is the case among culture workers. Political parties also claim to speak for this general social category, particularly during protests. The discussion below follows this blurred line, in which social and political opposition meet.

During 2001-04, the opposition's discourse rendered the increasing contacts of the Communist Party with 'Europe' invisible, and obscured the complex changes that the expansion of the EU brought to Moldova's geopolitical position. During its first term in power as the ruling party, the Communist Party oversaw increasing contacts with European institutions, the EU and various processes of 'Europeanization.' These contacts were particularly facilitated by Romania's developing relations with the EU. In 2000, Romania was invited to the EU accession process. It became a candidate country in 2004 and an EU Member State in 2007.

Romania's developing relations with the EU have facilitated new ways of imagining Moldova's relationship to these two places. Material impacts occurred through the tightening of border controls, the promises and disappointments of EU-sponsored cross-border neighborhood projects, the MBT Lami increased leverage Romania has over import-export trade relations, and the renegotiation of Moldova's 'special status' with Romania due to their shared language, history, and culture. Close analysis of Moldovan-Romanian relations during the early 2000s reveals instances of both cooperation and antagonism initiated by each side, yet until 2004 members of the opposition -such as culture workers - simply assumed that the Communist Party opposed 'Europe' in any form. When the Communist Party was re-elected to power on a pro-European platform in 2005, however, talk of 'Europe' and Moldova's place in it spread rapidly as people tried to recover political, professional and personal relationships that were deeply entangled with moral and symbolic geography.

Europe: Material Changes and Geographical Imaginaries

By: Zhuimeng

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