{"id":444610,"date":"2017-09-26T17:27:04","date_gmt":"2017-09-26T17:27:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/?p=444610"},"modified":"2017-10-13T13:40:05","modified_gmt":"2017-10-13T13:40:05","slug":"interview-marc-pilkington-founder-moldova-tours-2-0-managing-director-moldova-blockchain-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/interview-marc-pilkington-founder-moldova-tours-2-0-managing-director-moldova-blockchain-center\/","title":{"rendered":"Moldova through the eyes of a European immigrant: Marc Pilkington talks about politics, culture and diaspora\/\/ INTERVIEW"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 12<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

A: Could you tell me more about what brought you here?<\/strong><\/p>\n

M:<\/strong> I\u2019m half French, half British and, before coming to Moldova, I was associate professor of economics at a French public university. A few years ago, I wanted to learn Romanian, for no special reasons: I liked the language and wanted to learn it in Romania, so I went to Brasov and did a summer course there. My first contact with Moldova was 10 years ago. I was teaching in Nice, in the South of France, and I had a few students from Moldova. At the time, I didn\u2019t even know where Moldova was, I was curious. I just went there after my trip to Romania. I tried not to go on Google or get information from other people, I wanted to get my own impressions. Without much research, I must say I heard people say that \u201cMoldova is a very poor country, poorest in the Europe, etc.\u201d My first experience in Chisinau was, actually, kind of a good surprise. I like your country very much. At the time, my Romanian was very bad compared to what it is now, so people tried to help me out. When I first got to Moldova in 2015, your country was voted the least visited country in Europe. It\u2019s rather sad that people don\u2019t visit it, considering the fact that you have a nice country and nice people. I thought, why not go to Moldova, open a little company and try to make something with tourism? I feel like it\u2019s not so explored, although it has a lot of potential. Even if I failed, I would benefit from the experience of living in a different country. Just before leaving, I answered a call for papers to contribute to a book focusing on technology and globalization. In fact, what I did was submit a proposal for what I had in mind back then, the idea that one can only improve tourism in Moldova if one uses technology. It’s because today, we\u2019re living in a kind of platform-based world, with the social media. I think it\u2019s a good idea to try to use technology and promote the country like that.<\/p>\n

This was my whole reflection on Tourism\u00a02.0<\/em>. It\u2019s getting people to interact, to contribute, to generate content, to share photos, ideas and experiences. If you go to travel agency websites, sometimes\u00a0\u2013 you do find nice websites, with nice photos, etc.. But if people don\u2019t know anything about Moldova, even if it looks nice, they will not go there. I remember very well, my feeling when I wanted to go for the first time. I was a bit impressed, because my language skills were not very good. It\u2019s a bit of a mysterious country, it used to be part of the Soviet Union. All these post soviet countries are very interesting. Coming to Eastern Europe is like a discovery, it\u2019s nothing like Austria or Switzerland. I was surprised, because it wasn\u2019t that difficult to be in Moldova. People were nice, I could see that they had problems\u2026 I wouldn\u2019t like to talk about all their problems, but life was tough, Moldova has a lot of poverty, a lot of corruption \u2013 these are the big issues. But in spite of that, people are trying to do something. Also, when you\u2019re a foreigner, you\u2019re being treated very nicely. I\u2019m sad to say this, but most people in the world do not know where Moldova is. It\u2019s not because they\u2019re stupid, it\u2019s because there isn’t a lot of communication, and this is the big problem with Moldova. Every time there is communication in the media \u2013 it is to highlight the problems. If you want me to list all the problems with Moldova, I\u2019ll unfortunately write a very long list.<\/p>\n

For us, foreigners being in Moldova is like an adventure. A lot of people who go to Moldova for the first time do it because they have a friend there. I think there could be psychological aspects for Moldovan people to overcome in order to attract tourists to Moldova. You have to show them the good things first; not just the problems, not just the corruption, not just the banking scandals, but also the culture, the traditions, etc.. That\u2019s my general perspective about your country.<\/p>\n\n

A: Can you briefly describe what each of the Moldova Tours 2.0<\/em> perspective tours offer within their activities?<\/strong><\/p>\n

M:<\/strong> What I was thinking was that everybody has their own reasons to go to Moldova. For example, the monastery tours<\/em> would be for people interested in religious tourism. You have very nice monasteries in Moldova. One can take a whole week to just do this. Most people don\u2019t just go to a country in order to visit a monastery. I think it was a good thing to divide tours in such a way, because I knew there would be people interested in them. For example, I was approached by a company in Pakistan. A Christian group of people with a travel agency in Pakistan. They wanted to send me some customers, because they do religious tourism in countries like Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, etc.. Moldova would be a whole new market for them. And then, there are people interested in wine. The French region where I come from, Burgundy, is very famous for wine. I must say I\u2019m very impressed by the quality of the Moldovan wine. Then, you have the corporate tours<\/em>. That\u2019s for business men, for potential investors and so you need to organize something which is very suitable for them. I like the idea of the social business tours<\/em> very much. A lot of people want to go to Moldova with some kind of NGO perspective. They know there are a lot of problems and so they want to help.<\/p>\n

Most people are not going to be interested in doing one thing for a week, so that\u2019s what the perspective tours offer. You go to Moldova for the first time and then, you could have a mix of everything. It\u2019s funny, 2 days ago I received an E-mail from somebody in Florida, and I thought that was crazy, because they wanted to travel all the way from Florida, just to visit one monastery near Nisporeni. I thought that was crazy! Why would you come all the way up here and only want to see one thing?<\/p>\n

Another thing I am exploring right now, and I believe has a lot of potential, is developing Russian teaching combined with tourism. One reason is because Moldova is nice and most people don\u2019t know about it, and the other one is because it is, actually, very cheap. Moldovan people complain that there is no money, that everything is expensive, and it\u2019s true, because the salaries are very low here. Now, if you come from the Netherlands with a very good purchasing power, you\u2019ll find Moldova extremely cheap, compared to other destinations.<\/p>\n

Moldova has very good doctors as well. I\u2019ve spoken to people, and I know that the dental care you can get in Moldova would be the same as what you can get in France or Germany, but four times cheaper. It\u2019s another thing you can think about.<\/p>\n\n

A: Could you explain what is the role of Blockchain for Tourism 2.0, in easy terms?<\/strong><\/p>\n

M:<\/strong> That is a very important question. Blockchain is an area of interest, it\u2019s something I have researched and published articles about. It\u2019s really something very large that I\u2019m interested in. At first, it all started with Bitcoin. It\u2019s not just about Bitcoin, it\u2019s about the technology behind Bitcoin. A British guy currently staying in Moldova has a big project here. In fact, he had a very successful experience on a Greek island about 2 years ago. There was a big turmoil in Greece, people were talking about the exit from the European Union. Finally, they saw the problems, but it was a big mess. So what he did, he went to a Greek island and introduced the cryptocurrency based on blockchain through just tourism \u2013 as an experiment. This cryptocurrency would be accepted by hotels, restaurants, tourism service providers, and there would be no fee. People would save money thanks to this cryptographic technology… You could transfer money without paying the fee. You pay very high fees when you transfer by credit card, for instance, when you travel abroad. This guy obtained a very good result on this island, where he introduced the blockchain-based currency. You need two things: you need people to work together as a coherent ecosystem, and this is exactly what tourism is about. Nowadays, you just have individual\u00a0and separated elements. There are hotels, restaurants, guides, travel agencies. Everybody is working separately. If you could introduce a crypto-token \u2013 which would be accepted as a parallel currency \u2013 this could redefine tourism and, it would bring a lot of media exposure. There would be people that would come to Moldova because they\u2019re curious. For example, a lot of people travelled to the island where the clip \u2018Despacito\u2019 was filmed (editor\u2019s note: Porto Rico) \u2013 just because of the popularity on the internet. I\u2019m not saying we should be superficial all the time, but sometimes you have to play with the marketing trends, the social media, so that you can create some kind of novelty. I think it would be interesting for people. The only people who go to Moldova nowadays either have a friend there, or are a bit adventurous, curious.<\/p>\n

A lot of people interested in History come to Moldova as well. Moldova has a very rich history. There are settlements in the North of Moldova, and these settlements come
\nfrom one of the oldest civilizations that has ever existed in Europe, the Cucuteni civilization, around 7000 years ago. This civilization was, in fact, extremely advanced. I know someone who was doing her PhD in archeology, and she excavated some remnants of this ancient civilization. Those were very intelligent people, the most advanced, considering the level of technology they had at the time. The way this civilization disappeared is very mysterious as well. It\u2019s a bit like in the Bible, there could have been a natural disaster, a catarstrophe \u2013 it\u2019s very unclear under which circumstances this civilization disappeared.<\/p>\n

Source: Transylvaniaworld.com<\/p><\/div>\n

Click here<\/a> for more about the Cucuteni civilization.<\/h5>\n

It\u2019s not just the 20th<\/sup> century and the Soviet Union that attract tourists interested in history. A lot happened in the Middle ages as well, or around the Stefan cel Mare time. It is a very deep belief to me, that a lot of Moldovans are very critical about their own countries because of all the political problems. Most of the time are not aware of their own heritage, their culture. Surprisingly to me, a lot of Moldovans haven\u2019t even visited their own country. On my second day in Moldova, I was in Tipova. Talking to some people later who\u2019ve lived in Moldova forever, and\u00a0they told me they\u2019d never been to Tipova. And it\u2019s a very nice place in your country. How can you promote your country if you don\u2019t know it too well?<\/p>\n\n

A: I<\/strong>\u2019d like to talk more about poverty and corruption in Moldova. What way do you believe in, that would get Moldova to consolidate the rule of law? What\u00a0\u201cpropels judicial nihilism and corruption in Moldovan society?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

M: May I ask what you\u2019re studing in the Netherlands?<\/p>\n

A: It’s called Interactive\/Media\/Design, a conceptual art-related subject. <\/strong><\/p>\n

M:<\/strong> So you\u2019re not a law student. The question you asked me is very difficult. How could we consolidate, strengthen the rule of law? You said it very well, Moldova is a very young country \u2013 26-27 years old, the problem you have in Moldova is the same problem a lot of transition economies have: high levels of corruption. One could find the same problems in a lot of similar economies. With more economic grouth, with more economic prosperity \u2013 there would be less corruption. But this is only in the long term, so the question is, how could we improve the situation in the short term at least, knowing that it\u2019s a difficult problem, because corruption in Moldova is a big problem. You asked a question about Blockchain, and I should\u2019ve added something. Blockchain has some applications for the e-government, and also, more transparency in everything: for public services, in public life etc. What I think Moldova needs is more transparency about politicians. They have vested interests, and it could be that blockchain technologies could help out here. Say, you use blockchain for publicizing information related to politicians, especially politicians involved in previous elections, and see if they have any potential conflict of interest. You could see, for example, if they have a contract with a big company. One could use digital technologies, like blockchain, to generate more transparency. It would be a step in the right direction. I see that a lot of people vote for politicians for very superficial reasons. And this is what happened last year, in 2016 \u2013 people being disappointed with the EU movement and decided to look backwards, up to the Russian standards. If people reflected more upon this, they would understand it\u2019s not as simple as it seems. People need to create a more transparent environment and know exactly who they\u2019re voting for \u2013 the ideas they are going to present in the parliament.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

A: I<\/strong>\u2019m not sure whether you<\/strong>\u2019ve read “Society of the spectacle<\/strong>” by Guy Debord, but he wrote a lot about the political spectacle, comparing the authorities to some sort of ‘pseudo-stars.’ He said “The spectacle exists in a concentrated form and diffuse form depending on the requirements of the particular stage of poverty it denies and supports.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

Unquestionably, the Moldovan authorities manipulate people in any way they can. If you agree with that, what is the reason this whole spectacle is happening? Why have people become hopeless and inactive in what comes to being part of a community and fighting for a better country?<\/strong><\/p>\n

M:<\/strong> Thank you for this question. One of my best friends who I\u2019m collaborating with for this project, is a journalist here. She told me, many times, that there isn’t really any independent journalism in Moldova. People have tried, and failed \u2013 because of the lack of financial resources. The media is politically controlled, and so a lot of people are extremely passive. A thing which is very sad about Moldova is the divide between people who live here and the diaspora<\/em>. When you go abroad you get to interact with other cultures, other people \u2013 it opens your mind. A lot of people in Moldova have a very narrow mindset, and this is very easy to understand. They have a life which is very difficult, they may be making around \u20ac250 a month, so when they go back home in the evening \u2013 they\u2019re tired, they have to look after their children, their household. They turn on the television \u2013 they don\u2019t really have the energy, the strength to go further than that. I know there are some people who are trying to do this \u2013 people with a more critical perspective. These people should really be given credit for trying to open minds and eyes of the masses. Poverty turns it into an extremely slow process.<\/p>\n

When I came to Moldova, about to establish myself, I’ve arrived on September 4th<\/sup>\u00a02015, and 2 days later you had the biggest demonstration ever in the history of your country. Chisinau had more people on the streets than on Independence Day in 1991. I think it was around 100.000 people, and that was a big movement. Through the winter, there were big protests in front of the government building. I thought that, maybe, there was going to be a similar scenario\u00a0\u2013 like you had in Ukraine, with Maidan. I thought people were going to revolt, rebel against the government. And what happened was\u2026 it faded away. Everything went back to normal. People were resigned, I think. People\u00a0\u2013 they can\u2019t just spend 6 months in a tent, in front of the parliament. They need money, they have children… It\u2019s just an economic necessity that brought people back to where they were. In fact, I don\u2019t think anything has really changed, the appearance perhaps \u2013 on the surface. And this is sad, people are victims of their own economic conditions. There was a nice window at some stage, for people who want to change society. But this window is not really effective. I\u2019m glad it didn\u2019t turn into a similar movement as in Ukraine, because what happened in Ukraine was very violent. There was bloodshed, and I did not see Moldova as a country like that. It\u2019s a very divided country. You have Russian speaking people, Romanian speaking people… Turkish speaking people (editor\u2019s note: Gagauz), and so on \u2013 but it\u2019s not a violent country. I\u2019m glad that in spite of the problems you had, you didn\u2019t take the same route as Ukraine, because the situation hasn\u2019t improved much in there ever since. What Moldovan people need is to get more education. Education is another big problem in Moldova. It needs better education, better paid teachers, so that people have a more constructive criticism about what is going on around them. It\u2019s more of a long term thing.<\/p>\n

Getting back to my topic \u2013 it\u2019s very important for your country that more foreigners go there. Of course, tourists are going to bring money, but they\u2019re also going to bring in ideas by interacting with the locals. That\u2019s something that could really help your country.<\/p>\n

Boulevard Saint Germain, Paris, May 6 1968. Photograph: Bruno Barbey\/Magnum<\/p><\/div>\n\n

A: What would be an advice you could give to the Moldovan diaspora as well as the people living in Moldova in order for them to contribute to the country they hope for?<\/strong><\/p>\n

M:<\/strong> There are lot of different people in diaspora. It isn\u2019t one whole mindset. There is something I wrote in my papers: it is about the future of Moldova the diaspora has a key role to play in. Diaspora may be the most decisive force for the future of Moldova. We were talking about technologies. What diaspora has to do, is try and be more united, try to be better connected on a platform, and thus, better organized. Diaspora needs to have a voice in the domestic affairs.<\/p>\n

Today, the diaspora isn’t very well represented. I don\u2019t think the voice of diaspora is very powerful. Using a platform-based technology would get diaspora to speak with a common voice in a way that is more coherent and powerful. Right now, you have Moldovans living almost everywhere in the world. Every country has a consulate, an embassy, and there is a need of organizing everything at an international level. I like Moldova.org<\/strong> a lot. I think you are doing something in the right direction. The platform you have is, in fact, a very powerful instrument. What you do \u2013 you are trying to inform people. My objective is trying to arouse interest about Moldova as a first step and bringing people to Moldova as a second step. It may sound like a foundation, but my project contains a private component, which is business, or profit-oriented. It\u2019s ambitious, because it\u2019s a big project, but I like to be optimistic, regardless of the problems and difficulties.<\/p>\n\n

Access the Moldova Tours 2.0 website\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/h5>\n
<\/h5>\n
<\/h5>\n
Further readings:<\/h5>\n
Historic protests in Romania: are there any lessons for the Republic of Moldova? By Irina Staver and Marc Pilkington<\/a><\/h5>\n
Can the Blockchain Help Fight off Corruption in Developing Countries? The Case of the Republic of Moldova.<\/a><\/h5>\n
Why Everyone Is Getting Excited About This Underrated Travel Destination<\/a><\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reading Time: <\/span> 12<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>Marc Pilkington is an Associate Professor of Economics at the COMUE, University of Burgundy Franche Comt\u00e9, France, where he was appointed in 2012. Between 2015 and 2017, he was on entrepreneurial leave in the Republic of Moldova. His business venture Moldova Tours 2.0 lies at the intersection between tourism growth, poverty alleviation and digital technologies. He has written two books and numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":444609,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,23,12,4],"tags":[35],"class_list":["post-444610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diaspora-en","category-featured","category-opinion","category-society","tag-important"],"content_social_share":"Reading Time: <\/span> 12<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

A: Could you tell me more about what brought you here?<\/strong><\/p>\n

M:<\/strong> I\u2019m half French, half British and, before coming to Moldova, I was associate professor of economics at a French public university. A few years ago, I wanted to learn Romanian, for no special reasons: I liked the language and wanted to learn it in Romania, so I went to Brasov and did a summer course there. My first contact with Moldova was 10 years ago. I was teaching in Nice, in the South of France, and I had a few students from Moldova. At the time, I didn\u2019t even know where Moldova was, I was curious. I just went there after my trip to Romania. I tried not to go on Google or get information from other people, I wanted to get my own impressions. Without much research, I must say I heard people say that \u201cMoldova is a very poor country, poorest in the Europe, etc.\u201d My first experience in Chisinau was, actually, kind of a good surprise. I like your country very much. At the time, my Romanian was very bad compared to what it is now, so people tried to help me out. When I first got to Moldova in 2015, your country was voted the least visited country in Europe. It\u2019s rather sad that people don\u2019t visit it, considering the fact that you have a nice country and nice people. I thought, why not go to Moldova, open a little company and try to make something with tourism? I feel like it\u2019s not so explored, although it has a lot of potential. Even if I failed, I would benefit from the experience of living in a different country. Just before leaving, I answered a call for papers to contribute to a book focusing on technology and globalization. In fact, what I did was submit a proposal for what I had in mind back then, the idea that one can only improve tourism in Moldova if one uses technology. It’s because today, we\u2019re living in a kind of platform-based world, with the social media. I think it\u2019s a good idea to try to use technology and promote the country like that.<\/p>\n

This was my whole reflection on Tourism\u00a02.0<\/em>. It\u2019s getting people to interact, to contribute, to generate content, to share photos, ideas and experiences. If you go to travel agency websites, sometimes\u00a0\u2013 you do find nice websites, with nice photos, etc.. But if people don\u2019t know anything about Moldova, even if it looks nice, they will not go there. I remember very well, my feeling when I wanted to go for the first time. I was a bit impressed, because my language skills were not very good. It\u2019s a bit of a mysterious country, it used to be part of the Soviet Union. All these post soviet countries are very interesting. Coming to Eastern Europe is like a discovery, it\u2019s nothing like Austria or Switzerland. I was surprised, because it wasn\u2019t that difficult to be in Moldova. People were nice, I could see that they had problems\u2026 I wouldn\u2019t like to talk about all their problems, but life was tough, Moldova has a lot of poverty, a lot of corruption \u2013 these are the big issues. But in spite of that, people are trying to do something. Also, when you\u2019re a foreigner, you\u2019re being treated very nicely. I\u2019m sad to say this, but most people in the world do not know where Moldova is. It\u2019s not because they\u2019re stupid, it\u2019s because there isn’t a lot of communication, and this is the big problem with Moldova. Every time there is communication in the media \u2013 it is to highlight the problems. If you want me to list all the problems with Moldova, I\u2019ll unfortunately write a very long list.<\/p>\n

For us, foreigners being in Moldova is like an adventure. A lot of people who go to Moldova for the first time do it because they have a friend there. I think there could be psychological aspects for Moldovan people to overcome in order to attract tourists to Moldova. You have to show them the good things first; not just the problems, not just the corruption, not just the banking scandals, but also the culture, the traditions, etc.. That\u2019s my general perspective about your country.<\/p>\n\n

A: Can you briefly describe what each of the Moldova Tours 2.0<\/em> perspective tours offer within their activities?<\/strong><\/p>\n

M:<\/strong> What I was thinking was that everybody has their own reasons to go to Moldova. For example, the monastery tours<\/em> would be for people interested in religious tourism. You have very nice monasteries in Moldova. One can take a whole week to just do this. Most people don\u2019t just go to a country in order to visit a monastery. I think it was a good thing to divide tours in such a way, because I knew there would be people interested in them. For example, I was approached by a company in Pakistan. A Christian group of people with a travel agency in Pakistan. They wanted to send me some customers, because they do religious tourism in countries like Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, etc.. Moldova would be a whole new market for them. And then, there are people interested in wine. The French region where I come from, Burgundy, is very famous for wine. I must say I\u2019m very impressed by the quality of the Moldovan wine. Then, you have the corporate tours<\/em>. That\u2019s for business men, for potential investors and so you need to organize something which is very suitable for them. I like the idea of the social business tours<\/em> very much. A lot of people want to go to Moldova with some kind of NGO perspective. They know there are a lot of problems and so they want to help.<\/p>\n

Most people are not going to be interested in doing one thing for a week, so that\u2019s what the perspective tours offer. You go to Moldova for the first time and then, you could have a mix of everything. It\u2019s funny, 2 days ago I received an E-mail from somebody in Florida, and I thought that was crazy, because they wanted to travel all the way from Florida, just to visit one monastery near Nisporeni. I thought that was crazy! Why would you come all the way up here and only want to see one thing?<\/p>\n

Another thing I am exploring right now, and I believe has a lot of potential, is developing Russian teaching combined with tourism. One reason is because Moldova is nice and most people don\u2019t know about it, and the other one is because it is, actually, very cheap. Moldovan people complain that there is no money, that everything is expensive, and it\u2019s true, because the salaries are very low here. Now, if you come from the Netherlands with a very good purchasing power, you\u2019ll find Moldova extremely cheap, compared to other destinations.<\/p>\n

Moldova has very good doctors as well. I\u2019ve spoken to people, and I know that the dental care you can get in Moldova would be the same as what you can get in France or Germany, but four times cheaper. It\u2019s another thing you can think about.<\/p>\n\n

A: Could you explain what is the role of Blockchain for Tourism 2.0, in easy terms?<\/strong><\/p>\n

M:<\/strong> That is a very important question. Blockchain is an area of interest, it\u2019s something I have researched and published articles about. It\u2019s really something very large that I\u2019m interested in. At first, it all started with Bitcoin. It\u2019s not just about Bitcoin, it\u2019s about the technology behind Bitcoin. A British guy currently staying in Moldova has a big project here. In fact, he had a very successful experience on a Greek island about 2 years ago. There was a big turmoil in Greece, people were talking about the exit from the European Union. Finally, they saw the problems, but it was a big mess. So what he did, he went to a Greek island and introduced the cryptocurrency based on blockchain through just tourism \u2013 as an experiment. This cryptocurrency would be accepted by hotels, restaurants, tourism service providers, and there would be no fee. People would save money thanks to this cryptographic technology… You could transfer money without paying the fee. You pay very high fees when you transfer by credit card, for instance, when you travel abroad. This guy obtained a very good result on this island, where he introduced the blockchain-based currency. You need two things: you need people to work together as a coherent ecosystem, and this is exactly what tourism is about. Nowadays, you just have individual\u00a0and separated elements. There are hotels, restaurants, guides, travel agencies. Everybody is working separately. If you could introduce a crypto-token \u2013 which would be accepted as a parallel currency \u2013 this could redefine tourism and, it would bring a lot of media exposure. There would be people that would come to Moldova because they\u2019re curious. For example, a lot of people travelled to the island where the clip \u2018Despacito\u2019 was filmed (editor\u2019s note: Porto Rico) \u2013 just because of the popularity on the internet. I\u2019m not saying we should be superficial all the time, but sometimes you have to play with the marketing trends, the social media, so that you can create some kind of novelty. I think it would be interesting for people. The only people who go to Moldova nowadays either have a friend there, or are a bit adventurous, curious.<\/p>\n

A lot of people interested in History come to Moldova as well. Moldova has a very rich history. There are settlements in the North of Moldova, and these settlements come
\nfrom one of the oldest civilizations that has ever existed in Europe, the Cucuteni civilization, around 7000 years ago. This civilization was, in fact, extremely advanced. I know someone who was doing her PhD in archeology, and she excavated some remnants of this ancient civilization. Those were very intelligent people, the most advanced, considering the level of technology they had at the time. The way this civilization disappeared is very mysterious as well. It\u2019s a bit like in the Bible, there could have been a natural disaster, a catarstrophe \u2013 it\u2019s very unclear under which circumstances this civilization disappeared.<\/p>\n

Source: Transylvaniaworld.com<\/p><\/div>\n

Click here<\/a> for more about the Cucuteni civilization.<\/h5>\n

It\u2019s not just the 20th<\/sup> century and the Soviet Union that attract tourists interested in history. A lot happened in the Middle ages as well, or around the Stefan cel Mare time. It is a very deep belief to me, that a lot of Moldovans are very critical about their own countries because of all the political problems. Most of the time are not aware of their own heritage, their culture. Surprisingly to me, a lot of Moldovans haven\u2019t even visited their own country. On my second day in Moldova, I was in Tipova. Talking to some people later who\u2019ve lived in Moldova forever, and\u00a0they told me they\u2019d never been to Tipova. And it\u2019s a very nice place in your country. How can you promote your country if you don\u2019t know it too well?<\/p>\n\n

A: I<\/strong>\u2019d like to talk more about poverty and corruption in Moldova. What way do you believe in, that would get Moldova to consolidate the rule of law? What\u00a0\u201cpropels judicial nihilism and corruption in Moldovan society?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

M: May I ask what you\u2019re studing in the Netherlands?<\/p>\n

A: It’s called Interactive\/Media\/Design, a conceptual art-related subject. <\/strong><\/p>\n

M:<\/strong> So you\u2019re not a law student. The question you asked me is very difficult. How could we consolidate, strengthen the rule of law? You said it very well, Moldova is a very young country \u2013 26-27 years old, the problem you have in Moldova is the same problem a lot of transition economies have: high levels of corruption. One could find the same problems in a lot of similar economies. With more economic grouth, with more economic prosperity \u2013 there would be less corruption. But this is only in the long term, so the question is, how could we improve the situation in the short term at least, knowing that it\u2019s a difficult problem, because corruption in Moldova is a big problem. You asked a question about Blockchain, and I should\u2019ve added something. Blockchain has some applications for the e-government, and also, more transparency in everything: for public services, in public life etc. What I think Moldova needs is more transparency about politicians. They have vested interests, and it could be that blockchain technologies could help out here. Say, you use blockchain for publicizing information related to politicians, especially politicians involved in previous elections, and see if they have any potential conflict of interest. You could see, for example, if they have a contract with a big company. One could use digital technologies, like blockchain, to generate more transparency. It would be a step in the right direction. I see that a lot of people vote for politicians for very superficial reasons. And this is what happened last year, in 2016 \u2013 people being disappointed with the EU movement and decided to look backwards, up to the Russian standards. If people reflected more upon this, they would understand it\u2019s not as simple as it seems. People need to create a more transparent environment and know exactly who they\u2019re voting for \u2013 the ideas they are going to present in the parliament.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

A: I<\/strong>\u2019m not sure whether you<\/strong>\u2019ve read “Society of the spectacle<\/strong>” by Guy Debord, but he wrote a lot about the political spectacle, comparing the authorities to some sort of ‘pseudo-stars.’ He said “The spectacle exists in a concentrated form and diffuse form depending on the requirements of the particular stage of poverty it denies and supports.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

Unquestionably, the Moldovan authorities manipulate people in any way they can. If you agree with that, what is the reason this whole spectacle is happening? Why have people become hopeless and inactive in what comes to being part of a community and fighting for a better country?<\/strong><\/p>\n

M:<\/strong> Thank you for this question. One of my best friends who I\u2019m collaborating with for this project, is a journalist here. She told me, many times, that there isn’t really any independent journalism in Moldova. People have tried, and failed \u2013 because of the lack of financial resources. The media is politically controlled, and so a lot of people are extremely passive. A thing which is very sad about Moldova is the divide between people who live here and the diaspora<\/em>. When you go abroad you get to interact with other cultures, other people \u2013 it opens your mind. A lot of people in Moldova have a very narrow mindset, and this is very easy to understand. They have a life which is very difficult, they may be making around \u20ac250 a month, so when they go back home in the evening \u2013 they\u2019re tired, they have to look after their children, their household. They turn on the television \u2013 they don\u2019t really have the energy, the strength to go further than that. I know there are some people who are trying to do this \u2013 people with a more critical perspective. These people should really be given credit for trying to open minds and eyes of the masses. Poverty turns it into an extremely slow process.<\/p>\n

When I came to Moldova, about to establish myself, I’ve arrived on September 4th<\/sup>\u00a02015, and 2 days later you had the biggest demonstration ever in the history of your country. Chisinau had more people on the streets than on Independence Day in 1991. I think it was around 100.000 people, and that was a big movement. Through the winter, there were big protests in front of the government building. I thought that, maybe, there was going to be a similar scenario\u00a0\u2013 like you had in Ukraine, with Maidan. I thought people were going to revolt, rebel against the government. And what happened was\u2026 it faded away. Everything went back to normal. People were resigned, I think. People\u00a0\u2013 they can\u2019t just spend 6 months in a tent, in front of the parliament. They need money, they have children… It\u2019s just an economic necessity that brought people back to where they were. In fact, I don\u2019t think anything has really changed, the appearance perhaps \u2013 on the surface. And this is sad, people are victims of their own economic conditions. There was a nice window at some stage, for people who want to change society. But this window is not really effective. I\u2019m glad it didn\u2019t turn into a similar movement as in Ukraine, because what happened in Ukraine was very violent. There was bloodshed, and I did not see Moldova as a country like that. It\u2019s a very divided country. You have Russian speaking people, Romanian speaking people… Turkish speaking people (editor\u2019s note: Gagauz), and so on \u2013 but it\u2019s not a violent country. I\u2019m glad that in spite of the problems you had, you didn\u2019t take the same route as Ukraine, because the situation hasn\u2019t improved much in there ever since. What Moldovan people need is to get more education. Education is another big problem in Moldova. It needs better education, better paid teachers, so that people have a more constructive criticism about what is going on around them. It\u2019s more of a long term thing.<\/p>\n

Getting back to my topic \u2013 it\u2019s very important for your country that more foreigners go there. Of course, tourists are going to bring money, but they\u2019re also going to bring in ideas by interacting with the locals. That\u2019s something that could really help your country.<\/p>\n

Boulevard Saint Germain, Paris, May 6 1968. Photograph: Bruno Barbey\/Magnum<\/p><\/div>\n\n

A: What would be an advice you could give to the Moldovan diaspora as well as the people living in Moldova in order for them to contribute to the country they hope for?<\/strong><\/p>\n

M:<\/strong> There are lot of different people in diaspora. It isn\u2019t one whole mindset. There is something I wrote in my papers: it is about the future of Moldova the diaspora has a key role to play in. Diaspora may be the most decisive force for the future of Moldova. We were talking about technologies. What diaspora has to do, is try and be more united, try to be better connected on a platform, and thus, better organized. Diaspora needs to have a voice in the domestic affairs.<\/p>\n

Today, the diaspora isn’t very well represented. I don\u2019t think the voice of diaspora is very powerful. Using a platform-based technology would get diaspora to speak with a common voice in a way that is more coherent and powerful. Right now, you have Moldovans living almost everywhere in the world. Every country has a consulate, an embassy, and there is a need of organizing everything at an international level. I like Moldova.org<\/strong> a lot. I think you are doing something in the right direction. The platform you have is, in fact, a very powerful instrument. What you do \u2013 you are trying to inform people. My objective is trying to arouse interest about Moldova as a first step and bringing people to Moldova as a second step. It may sound like a foundation, but my project contains a private component, which is business, or profit-oriented. It\u2019s ambitious, because it\u2019s a big project, but I like to be optimistic, regardless of the problems and difficulties.<\/p>\n\n

Access the Moldova Tours 2.0 website\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/h5>\n
<\/h5>\n
<\/h5>\n
Further readings:<\/h5>\n
Historic protests in Romania: are there any lessons for the Republic of Moldova? By Irina Staver and Marc Pilkington<\/a><\/h5>\n
Can the Blockchain Help Fight off Corruption in Developing Countries? The Case of the Republic of Moldova.<\/a><\/h5>\n
Why Everyone Is Getting Excited About This Underrated Travel Destination<\/a><\/h5>\n
<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/div>
<\/div><\/div>
<\/div>","yoast_head":"\nMoldova through the eyes of a European immigrant: Marc Pilkington talks about politics, culture and diaspora\/\/ INTERVIEW - Moldova.org<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/interview-marc-pilkington-founder-moldova-tours-2-0-managing-director-moldova-blockchain-center\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Arina Livadari\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"17 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/interview-marc-pilkington-founder-moldova-tours-2-0-managing-director-moldova-blockchain-center\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/interview-marc-pilkington-founder-moldova-tours-2-0-managing-director-moldova-blockchain-center\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Arina Livadari\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f7f7b7a757ef0c14ab74eed7caf3eb58\"},\"headline\":\"Moldova through the eyes of a European immigrant: Marc Pilkington talks about politics, culture and diaspora\\\/\\\/ INTERVIEW\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-09-26T17:27:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-10-13T13:40:05+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/interview-marc-pilkington-founder-moldova-tours-2-0-managing-director-moldova-blockchain-center\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":3373,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/interview-marc-pilkington-founder-moldova-tours-2-0-managing-director-moldova-blockchain-center\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2017\\\/09\\\/Marc.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Important\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Diaspora\",\"Featured\",\"Opinion\",\"Society\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/interview-marc-pilkington-founder-moldova-tours-2-0-managing-director-moldova-blockchain-center\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/interview-marc-pilkington-founder-moldova-tours-2-0-managing-director-moldova-blockchain-center\\\/\",\"name\":\"Moldova through the eyes of a European immigrant: Marc Pilkington talks about politics, culture and diaspora\\\/\\\/ INTERVIEW - Moldova.org\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/interview-marc-pilkington-founder-moldova-tours-2-0-managing-director-moldova-blockchain-center\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/interview-marc-pilkington-founder-moldova-tours-2-0-managing-director-moldova-blockchain-center\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2017\\\/09\\\/Marc.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-09-26T17:27:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-10-13T13:40:05+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f7f7b7a757ef0c14ab74eed7caf3eb58\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/interview-marc-pilkington-founder-moldova-tours-2-0-managing-director-moldova-blockchain-center\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/interview-marc-pilkington-founder-moldova-tours-2-0-managing-director-moldova-blockchain-center\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/interview-marc-pilkington-founder-moldova-tours-2-0-managing-director-moldova-blockchain-center\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2017\\\/09\\\/Marc.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2017\\\/09\\\/Marc.jpg\",\"width\":960,\"height\":540},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/interview-marc-pilkington-founder-moldova-tours-2-0-managing-director-moldova-blockchain-center\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Moldova through the eyes of a European immigrant: Marc Pilkington talks about politics, culture and diaspora\\\/\\\/ INTERVIEW\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Moldova.org\",\"description\":\"The first news website of Moldova\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f7f7b7a757ef0c14ab74eed7caf3eb58\",\"name\":\"Arina Livadari\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/79c3520353c685e9103900791ffd35138ebe8a00866221e8ff51e308a5d00401?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/79c3520353c685e9103900791ffd35138ebe8a00866221e8ff51e308a5d00401?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/79c3520353c685e9103900791ffd35138ebe8a00866221e8ff51e308a5d00401?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Arina Livadari\"},\"description\":\"Currently studying Interactive\\\/Media\\\/Design at the Royal Academy of Art. Based in The Hague, The Netherlands.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/behance.net\\\/arinalivadari\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/arina.livadari\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/arina.livadari\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/in\\\/arinalivadari\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/arinalivadari\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/author\\\/arinalivadari\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Moldova through the eyes of a European immigrant: Marc Pilkington talks about politics, culture and diaspora\/\/ INTERVIEW - Moldova.org","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/interview-marc-pilkington-founder-moldova-tours-2-0-managing-director-moldova-blockchain-center\/","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Arina Livadari","Estimated reading time":"17 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/interview-marc-pilkington-founder-moldova-tours-2-0-managing-director-moldova-blockchain-center\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/interview-marc-pilkington-founder-moldova-tours-2-0-managing-director-moldova-blockchain-center\/"},"author":{"name":"Arina Livadari","@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/f7f7b7a757ef0c14ab74eed7caf3eb58"},"headline":"Moldova through the eyes of a European immigrant: Marc Pilkington talks about politics, culture and diaspora\/\/ INTERVIEW","datePublished":"2017-09-26T17:27:04+00:00","dateModified":"2017-10-13T13:40:05+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/interview-marc-pilkington-founder-moldova-tours-2-0-managing-director-moldova-blockchain-center\/"},"wordCount":3373,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/interview-marc-pilkington-founder-moldova-tours-2-0-managing-director-moldova-blockchain-center\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/09\/Marc.jpg","keywords":["Important"],"articleSection":["Diaspora","Featured","Opinion","Society"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/interview-marc-pilkington-founder-moldova-tours-2-0-managing-director-moldova-blockchain-center\/","url":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/interview-marc-pilkington-founder-moldova-tours-2-0-managing-director-moldova-blockchain-center\/","name":"Moldova through the eyes of a European immigrant: Marc Pilkington talks about politics, culture and diaspora\/\/ INTERVIEW - Moldova.org","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/interview-marc-pilkington-founder-moldova-tours-2-0-managing-director-moldova-blockchain-center\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/interview-marc-pilkington-founder-moldova-tours-2-0-managing-director-moldova-blockchain-center\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/09\/Marc.jpg","datePublished":"2017-09-26T17:27:04+00:00","dateModified":"2017-10-13T13:40:05+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/f7f7b7a757ef0c14ab74eed7caf3eb58"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/interview-marc-pilkington-founder-moldova-tours-2-0-managing-director-moldova-blockchain-center\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/interview-marc-pilkington-founder-moldova-tours-2-0-managing-director-moldova-blockchain-center\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/interview-marc-pilkington-founder-moldova-tours-2-0-managing-director-moldova-blockchain-center\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/09\/Marc.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/09\/Marc.jpg","width":960,"height":540},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/interview-marc-pilkington-founder-moldova-tours-2-0-managing-director-moldova-blockchain-center\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Moldova through the eyes of a European immigrant: Marc Pilkington talks about politics, culture and diaspora\/\/ INTERVIEW"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/","name":"Moldova.org","description":"The first news website of Moldova","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/f7f7b7a757ef0c14ab74eed7caf3eb58","name":"Arina Livadari","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/79c3520353c685e9103900791ffd35138ebe8a00866221e8ff51e308a5d00401?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/79c3520353c685e9103900791ffd35138ebe8a00866221e8ff51e308a5d00401?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/79c3520353c685e9103900791ffd35138ebe8a00866221e8ff51e308a5d00401?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Arina Livadari"},"description":"Currently studying Interactive\/Media\/Design at the Royal Academy of Art. Based in The Hague, The Netherlands.","sameAs":["http:\/\/behance.net\/arinalivadari","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/arina.livadari","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/arina.livadari\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/arinalivadari\/","https:\/\/x.com\/arinalivadari"],"url":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/author\/arinalivadari\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=444610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444610\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/444609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=444610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=444610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=444610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}