I have now gone through two EU referendums in my life – Brexit and Moldova’s 20 October vote on whether to include EU integration in its constitution. As an EU national in the UK, I was not able to cast my ballot in 2016. I remember the expectation most people had that Brexit would not win. I received the news while travelling in Spain and staying with a British national settled there, who could not vote in the referendum either. Some London-born friends told me they felt as though they could no longer recognise their country, which had been split in two. With that British experience on my mind, I had a sense of deja vu as I watched the results unfold in my native Moldova on Sunday night.
As opinion polls before the vote, which excluded Moldova’s large, pro-European diaspora, suggested, there was between 54% and 65% support for the EU. The only fear for pro-European Moldovans was that the turnout would be too small to have the referendum validated. When it became clear that 51% of voters had showed up – more than in other recent elections – everyone in my bubble felt optimistic, posting pictures of their “I voted” blue stickers given out at polling stations. I was in an echo-chamber.
