Global Journal of Human Social Science, F: Political Science, Volume 23 Issue 6

Before 2010 there were 34 polling stations established outside of the Republic of Moldova. This allowed for the participation of approximately 16000 voters (1.09% of the total number of voters). In the early parliamentary elections of 2021, taking into account the increasing electoral activity of the Moldovan diaspora, 150 polling stations were opened in 36 countries, which was by 11 more than in the presidential elections of 2020. As an exception, Moldovan voters abroad could vote using their expired passports (ENEMO, 2021, p.11). In the last presidential elections, in 2020, the Moldovan diaspora demonstrated a high degree of mobilization. More than 263 thousand members of the Moldovan diaspora participated in the second tour of the elections, and almost 93% voted for M. Sandu. Over the course of the entire history of presidential elections in the Republic of Moldova, no other candidate received such strong electoral support from the Moldovan diaspora. The diaspora not only actively took part in the elections, but it also determined the victor. In the early parliamentary elections of 2021 the Moldovan diaspora univocally voted for the PAS, which amassed 86.23% of the votes abroad. However, it would be a mistake to assume the “Action and Solidarity” Party won only due to the diaspora. It won internally as well, and the diaspora reinforced its victory. The migration of Moldovan citizens abroad continues. At the same time, their desire to maintain ties with their homeland, including by way of participation in elections raises the question on the multitude of forms of voting. The global electoral practice uses a variety of forms: personal voting; voting by post; voting by proxy; e-voting. In our opinion, personal voting is preferable for Moldovan migrants, who have access to polling stations, whereas e-voting and voting by post will allow diaspora members that reside too far from polling stations to also express their right to vote. This requires changes to be made in the legislation of the Republic of Moldova, however one should keep in mind that these kinds of voting carry not only great opportunities, but also great risks. Unlike the Moldovan migrants’ political activity, economic projects that contribute to the socio-economic development of Moldova have not yet received adequate attention from the Moldovan diaspora. At the same time, the issue of the diaspora’s input into the Republic of Moldova’s sustainable development became the object of the state’s policy and attracted the attention of the scientific community. Local and foreign scientific literature covers the influence of labor migrants’ remittances on the economic development of the country of origin. Remittances act as one of the elements of the development equation, alongside direct foreign investments, liberalized trade, and management improvement (Olensen, 2002) and are the net profit for the recipient countries (Bourguignon, Levin & Rosenblatt, 2009). Furthermore, in the opinion of D. Drbohlav, remittances are closely tied to social transfers, which include values, behavior, identity, and social capital that flows transnationally from the host country to the country of origin. By adopting these new values, rules, ideas, practices, and behavioral models migrants can enrich the society of their country of origin and contribute to the development of social relations (Drbohlav et al., 2017, p 528). Moldova is among the top-10 largest beneficiaries of monetary transfers in the world. The current analysis is based on official data on Moldovan migrants’ remittances through banks, as well as on estimates of the National Bank of Moldova (Table 1). During the period between 2005 and 2008 the volumes of remittances were continuously increasing and on average, they made 31% of the country’s GDP. This peaked in 2006 when remittances reached 34.67% of the GDP (Luecke, 2009, p.5). A significant decline in the monetary influx was observed in 2009, which was the result of world economic crisis and its impact on the labor market and the labor migrants’ income. In 2010 the influx of foreign currency again began to show signs of growth, the volume of monetary transfers through banks increased by 5.3% compared to 2009 (Extended Migration Profile, 2013, p.127). Remittances play an important role in reducing the deficit of the country’s payment balance, contribute to the development of the service sector, and provide a minimal living standard for thousands of households in the Republic of Moldova (Ghencea, Gudumac, 2004). The inflow of financial resources coming from Moldovan citizens that work abroad, on the one hand contributes to the decline of absolute poverty, especially in the rural areas, but on the other hand, also contributes to the increase of inequality between households that receive transfers, and those that do not (Extended Migration Profile, 2015, p.47-48). © 2023 Global Journals Volume XXIII Issue VI Version I 41 Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2023 ( ) F The Transformation of Moldovan Migrant Communities into the Moldovan Diaspora in the European Union: The Main Directions and Mechanisms In 2018 and 2019 Moldovan migrants’ remittances reached 16.05% of the GDP (IOM rapid field assessment, 2020, p.7). In the following years the share of monetary transfers in the GDP structure continued to decline, but it nonetheless remained an important source of income for many households in Moldova.