Since the start of Russia's aggression to Ukraine, Moldova has been hosting thousands or refugees, offering them first-aid support, shelter, food, and the warmth of Moldovan families.

But Moldova is a small country. As of 27 March, Moldovan authorities have reported 381,448 arrivals from Ukraine, of whom 346,735 are Ukrainian refugees and 34,713 third-country nationals. Hosting this number of refugees is a challenge.

So, how are people and authorities dealing with it?

Maria Victoria, a YEA from Moldova, explains the reaction of the country to the Refugees crisis, and adds some insights on the policies related to refugees of the UK, where she's currently studying.

Cătălina Ceban holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Warsaw in the field of International Relations. She currently follows a Master’s degree program in Security and Strategic Studies at the University of Warsaw being connected with this topic by participating in different events as the CyberSec Forum, the Warsaw Security Forum, and activating as a member of the Women in International Security network. Recently she started to activate as a senior officer at the Moldovan National Focal Point Europol. Out of the security field, she is also very interested in the EU as a concept. This can be proved by her activity as Vice President for the Bringing Europeans Together Association in Poland, founder and Vice President for the students’ society named “My dla Europy”.

With a strong belief in the potential and perspectives of Moldova, Maria Victoria Chilari has activated as a youth worker in NGOs aiming to empower young citizens to be involved in the affairs of their communities and be confident in their abilities to bring about optimization. Non-formal education (under the form of programmes such as Wave Week Moldova) provide the youth with necessary tools to change the current fate of Moldovan democracy into one that is more aligned with the European values.

Equally, being actively involved in national and international projects, and completing her A-levels at St Swithun’s School as an HMC scholar, deepened Maria Victoria’s understanding of comparative politics. This also confirmed her belief that cultural intelligence is of great importance when approaching global issues. Based on this premise, she is looking forward to pursuing a bachelor’s degree in International Social and Political Studies.