Moldova has reached a stalemate. The former Soviet republic remains split into two regions, with most of the country controlled by the government and a small slice of land controlled by rebel separatists. Another faction is demanding that the country once again become part of its neighbor Romania, as it was before World War II.
Life in Moldova is hard and gritty -- its rather gloomy mix of peasant tradition and Stalinist modernism has not changed very much since independence in 1991. The transition to an open economy has been difficult, and many people support a return to communism. Moldova is far less developed than many other Eastern European countries in terms of public transportation, tourism and even cultural identity