CHISINAU An estimated 80,000 people packed into the center of the Moldovan capital last month for the largest pro-European Union gathering in years as the ties binding this tiny eastern European country to Russia fray amid the war in Ukraine. EU, NATO and Moldovan flags were visible all over Chisinau’s Great National Assembly Square on May 21 as attendees listened to speeches by Moldova’s pro-EU President Maia Sandu and the head of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola. “The future is now!” shouted one member of the crowd as Sandu walked onstage to chants of “Maia Sandu” and “Europe.” Nearby streets were lined with buses that had brought participants to the rally from all over this formerly Soviet country of 2.6 million people, which is sandwiched between the EU and Ukraine. “With EU accession we will have so many more opportunities: the people who moved abroad can come back to their homeland,” said Eva-Marie, 26, referring to the tens of thousands of Mold