Climate of fear

When it was part of the former Soviet Union, Moldova was called Moldavia. Now it prefers the Romanian version of its name. Most people have heard of it but, uniquely among European nations, nobody knows where it is. Go straight on past Transylvania and you can't miss it.

Of course I went by plane. Checking in for Chisinau, the capital, I saw my bag disappearing down the conveyer, apparently labelled for Kiev. There followed one of those embarrassing …