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

can go anywhere I want, provided I have time
and money.” (Nadia). Those who consider the
Romanian citizenship as a right and a moral
repair, adopt it instantly, renouncing the Moldovan
one at least symbolically. The blue passport
is either forgotten at a friend’s place or left
home in Moldova (“Since I have my Romanian
one, the Moldovan passport stays at home in
my room and collects dust. When Moldova will
reunite with Romania, I will hang it on the wall
with a rope for my kids to play with it”), or kept
in a place just for the event of new elections.
At the other extreme, Stela residing in Romania
for 9 years (high school, university college
followed by a master degree in Political Science),
confessed me her intention to give up
the Romanian citizenship in the near future “In
30 years, Moldova will join the EU and I will
no longer need this passport.” She claims herself
to be a “true patriot” because she pleads
for an enhanced Moldovan statehood. In Romania
and abroad, she recommends herself exclusively
as Moldovan citizen, even if she uses
the Romanian passport to cross the border. For
her, the document attesting Romanian citizenship
plays a purely instrumental role, a chance
timely accessed (“I might need it”) and not a
deliberate project (“I was lucky and I took it
quickly”).
The two identity documents are not mutually
exclusive, even the colours are complementary,
as one of my interlocutors joked. “The
blue passport is also Romanian, but not entirely
so to say” (Doru). For those who have a
strong affi liation with the Moldovan Republic,
Moldovan passport is used in tandem with the
Romanian even when not needed, for instance,
at the border 9 . When the bus full of Moldovan
passengers reaches the Romanian border, the
driver instructs them to prepare their passports.
The plural is indicative of the phenomenon
that has escalated especially in the recent
years. More and more passengers display their
red passports when customs offi cers collect the
travel documents. Being legally both Moldovan
and Romanian at the same time, holding
two corresponding passports, the passenger is
irresolute how to proceed, which one to use? In
most frequent cases, they prefer to hand over
the both of them to the customs offi cer, delegating
away the responsibility to choose one
of them or spare from the effort to opt symbolically
for one state identity or another. Andrei
explains that he prefers to use the Moldovan
Societal and Political Psychology International Review
volume 2 ● number 2 ● 2011 ● pp. 161-167
passport at the Moldovan border because otherwise
his Romanian passport will get stamped
and he would like to keep it intact or at least
not to consume pages of it, though, he told me,
it will soon expire and he has got no plans for
more than one trip abroad per year. Passports
are considered for the benefi ts they offer and
for practical matters “I need it for real situations,
from the right to stay here to the fact
that I can avoid the queues and nerves at the
Immigration Offi ce to little nothings, for example
when I go to the bank and I am asked my
CNP.” Those who do not believe in Moldovan
statehood, adopt Romanian citizenship without
redefi nition or identity exercise. “I think
the fi rst problem of R.M. is that it claims to be
a state. R.M. is not state, it is absurd. This is
known by politicians from Chisinau, Moscow,
Bucharest, Brussels and Washington and ordinary
people feel this, but do not know how to
express it in words” (Victor). Furthermore, “I
personally see no pink future for RM” (idem).
While abroad, they recommend themselves
without hesitation as Romanian citizens. They
did not need a transition phase. They have assumed
long ago the Romanian identity and this
document legally confi rms their option with
some delay, “I am a Bessarabian Romanian,
born in the USSR. This is how I introduce myself
in Bucharest, Paris and Moscow, because
Romanian is my nationality, Bessarabia is just
about geography and the USSR is something
which does not exist anymore “(Victor).
Final remarks
The possibility to (re) acquire Romanian citizenship
is presented as a “safety belt” for more
and more Moldovans under the conditions of
failed Moldovan state due to massive migration
of Moldovan citizens seeking employment,
political deadlock, economic crisis, etc. I
want to make sure I can leave it anytime before
it sinks, one of my respondents stated. Understandably,
for many residents of the Republic
of Moldova, Romanian passport is the only
gateway to the actual world. The prospect of
regaining Romanian citizenship becomes especially
pressing for young Moldovans who were
educated in Romania and, after a certain period,
have less contact with the state of origin.
Thus transition occurs from the marginal
citizen, with a precarious status, to “more equal
than the rest”. The mix of the two citizenships
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