On the Margins of European Identity. Orthodox Geopolitics in Moldovan Ethno-politics

Moldova has often, and in different ways, been portrayed as standing at a crossroads, torn between East and West: between Romanian roots and Russian influence or between pro-European liberals and Soviet nostalgic communists. It is as if Moldova itself, a tiny country yet one with a range of local actors and their interests, almost disappears or is ascribed little, if any, agency of its own in this common, polarised description.

This study examines how the dichotomy illustrated by the crossroads metaphor is formulated in religious and national terms in the dispute between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Romanian Orthodox Church over canonical jurisdiction in the Republic of Moldova. It also questions the often-assumed direct subordination and loyalty of local religious actors to their patriarchates and their capitals.

So far little scholarly attention has been paid to how the Moldovan Orthodox Church has framed the question of national and geopolitical belonging. A common assumption has been that it is simply herding the Moldovans standing at the metaphorical crossroad eastwards, while the Romanian Orthodox Church, by reopening its metropolitanate in Moldova, is calling on the Moldovans to unite with their fellow Romanians in Europe. This volume examines the public addresses of the two main metropolitanates functioning in Moldova and challenge both assumptions.

It is often argued in the existing literature that nationalism and orthodoxy fill the ideological gap left by communism. This study does not make any assumptions about an ideological vacuum, nor does it offer an analysis of the project of building the Soviet man; rather, central to this study are two institutions which inspire the highest degree of trust in a largely disillusioned Moldovan public, namely the church and the EU, both of which are arguably a bit remote and vague compared to the tangible consequences of ideology in the Soviet Union. While church corruption and EU bureaucracy might be known as the flip side of the coin, they hardly play a prominent role in the daily life of most Moldovans. On the other side of the coin, Orthodox and European values can be appreciated at a safe distance and with a minimum of personal obligation on the part of the admirer. This might suggest a certain fondness for the freedom of the post-Soviet ideological gap – or, more accurately, a freer religious and ideological market – rather than an immediate urge to fill an assumed gap with something that would intrude on the daily and political life of the Moldovans.