In October 2025, Katharina Kleynmans conducted fieldwork in the Republic of Moldova. Her research took her to Chișinău and to the border regions of Ungheni (on the Romanian border) and Otaci (on the Ukrainian border) to investigate how borders and border areas are changing in light of the Russian war of aggression, the displacement from Ukraine, and Moldova’s prospects for EU membership. Since February 2022, the Moldovan Border Police have recorded over one million crossings from Ukraine into Moldova. Although the situation has since stabilized, the number of crossings in both directions remains high. International organizations have now shifted their work from humanitarian aid to long-term interventions and continue to support projects in areas such as social cohesion, health, infrastructure, and education.
On October 31 and November 1, 2025, she also participated in the ROMIG Conference, where she presented preliminary findings and exchanged ideas with colleagues from the region. Held every two years in Romania, the ROMIG Conference is an interdisciplinary networking forum for scholars researching migration in relation to Romania and the Republic of Moldova. Key themes included the situation of refugees from Ukraine in Romania/ Moldova, labor migration and transnational relations, return migration from other EU countries back to Romania and Moldova, and the impact of emigration on “left-behind” communities.
More information: https://romig.ro/
