Infrastructure and Geopolitics at the Border Triangle between Ukraine, Moldova and Romania

Border bridge across the Prut, connecting Moldova and Romania only a few meters from the opening of the Danube. Photo taken by C. Eggart in July 2022
Russia’s war against Ukraine has resulted in the destruction and reorganisation of many local and international infrastructure and trading networks. The war-related restrictions on port operations in Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, necessitated a large-scale rerouting of trade flows. As a consequence, formerly sleepy border crossings and Danube harbours were transformed overnight into geostrategic bottlenecks for the global circulation of grain and oil. While the media has mainly focussed on the devastating consequences of banning exports from Ukraine, little attention has been paid to local infrastructure challenges and the efforts of logistics workers. Our project examines how geopolitical tensions materialize in the region and affect the lived experiences of logistics workers. Beyond the current context of war, our research also considers long-term changes, especially to the customs and border infrastructure along the Danube, where the boundaries of Ukraine, Moldova and Romania meet.
-
How significant is the intersection of local and global dynamics in this border region for our understanding of border dynamics in general?
-
What do the cross-border infrastructures in the region reveal about past and present geopolitical links?
-
What is the relationship between existing and imaginary infrastructure networks and geopolitical dynamics?
Researchers













