State, community, individual - Societal and Political Psychology ...

session of an EU passport, Moldovans need to
cross bureaucratic steps for submitting the application
fi les and quite often they can be subjected
to “consular sadism”. While in queues,
they may experience simultaneously feelings
of humiliation, disrespectful attitude from offi
cials, despair and irritation. The long list of
required documents is a source of frustration
because it is like someone would contest their
identity “It was really painful when the Romanian
state created all those obstacles, when
you had to bring a note from the village hall
where your grandparents lived, to say that the
village was part of Greater Romania. It was
completely Kafkaesque and the message was
clear: we do not want you” (Victor). For most
of my interviewees, the Romanian passport is
the outcome of a tortuous process that once
completed more or less determines the establishment
of a state of normality, be it for the
legal confi rmation of identity, a right they have
accessed or an opportunity they grasped. But
mostly, enthusiasm of gain is much diminished
because of the bureaucratic procedure and too
long waiting. The entire project to regain the
Romanian citizenship is in fact an effort to be
“Romanian with papers in order”, boosted by
the fact that it is hard to obtain them. Once the
labor is completed, the situation is normalized
and a mental balance of peace and conciliation
with the previous condition is established. As
one respondent told me, the Romanian passport
“is not a trophy” and not a cause for pride
or demonstrative behavior, it is nothing but
natural.
It is common that when required to present
their identity cards, Moldovans show their
passport out of refl ex. In the daily vocabulary,
the term “passport” prevails against the identity
card supposedly because of the reminiscent
representation of Soviet passport. In Soviet
times 6 , the most commonly used identity
document for internal circulation (homologous
to ID card) was the passport, which looks like
the current international passport. If viewed as
a travel document, the blue Moldovan passport
became a sinister symbol of mobility restrictions.
Romania’s accession to the EU imposed
extreme border security, which has conditioned
an acute sense of separation for inhabitants
of Moldova. Many visa applications result in
failure, which discourages repeated initiation.
Heintz emphasized that “except for the color of
the passport, all other aspects of Moldovan citi-
Societal and Political Psychology International Review
volume 2 ● number 2 ● 2011 ● pp. 161-167
zenship are uncertain” (Heintz, 2007). Besides
the specifi c accent, the Bessarabian student
who came to study in Romania carries along
an identity document branded by the State of
origin: the blue passport. It is probably the central
element of differentiation in relation with
colleagues: “In school it was the fi rst attraction
for my Romanian colleagues. They would gather
around me and circulate the passport from
hand to hand, turn it on all sides. I showed
them my identity card, our money, everything
was exotic to them” (Vlad). One more difference
between a Romanian student and a Moldovan
one is the latter’s availability to “change
the blue passport for a red one” (MA). As for
the Transnistrian passport, it is compulsory for
all persons who have reached the age of 16.
The delay is regarded as a serious crime subject
to be punishable by the court. “I was late
with about half a year...the point is that I got
to court for this. I was very scared. I stood in
lines among thefts” (Vera) Not issuing this act
in time signifi ed for the Transnistrian authorities
a symbolic act of dissent, a challenge for
the legitimacy of non-recognized state: “You
know, a child of 16 years... to be stressed like
that. I was so humiliated, especially to pay that
stupid fi ne of 9 rubles 7 .” (idem).
The Authority for Citizenship in Bucharest
8 accepts applications only one day per
week that is on Wednesdays, and it is always
unimaginably crowded. The trip to Bucharest
involves a series of time and transport related
expenses. As the number of applicants exceed
the capacity of management of the staff, it often
happens that a signifi cant part of them remain
unattended, unable to register their fi les.
As a result, a certain degree of competitiveness
and social anxiety in the crowd arouse. Also
alternative systems of mass organization developed.
Limited range of time in which one
can apply (short program and only on certain
days) requires a competitive activity: ad hoc
lists, hucksters selling advantageous places
on the list, occasional solidarity, management
of the most proximate spot from the reception
desk etc. Power relations are negotiated by the
guards, occasional self-declared leaders and a
number of hucksters and speculators infi ltrated
in the crowd selling facilitation services. In order
to ensure a place on the list, people would
come in front of the offi ce the evening before
of the application day and spend there all night.
The list would be periodically checked and
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