Moldova’s leader herself also failed to win a personal victory this past weekend, winning only 42 percent of the vote in the presidential election that took place simultaneously with the referendum. Her leading opponent, Aleksandr Stoianoglo, with a more pro-Russian orientation, garnered 26 percent of the ballots. Even these numbers understate the depth of the skepticism towards Sandu, as there were 11 candidates in this first round of presidential voting and many anti-EU forces advised a boycott. In short, it is very unclear as to whether Moldova’s current president will hold onto power after the run-off election scheduled for November 3.
Presiding over an explosive combination of economic discontent and anti-war moods, President Sandu has increasingly turned to authoritarian methods. In November 2023, two days before balloting was to begin for local elections, a leading opposition party was banned, resulting in 600 candidates being kicked out of the race. In May of this year, she forced through her choice for prime minister, despite not having the necessary parliamentary votes. Evgenia Gutul, the elected governor of Gagauzia—home to an ethnic minority of Turkic-Christian people, who have raised objections to federal cultural policies downgrading the status of the Russian language in Moldova—is facing charges of being a Muscovite stooge.
This spring, the government in Chisinau pushed through amendments to the criminal code that provoked condemnation from Amnesty International. Authorities changed the definition of treason to include acts that occur during peacetime, and any action can now be deemed treasonous even if it does not cause direct harm to the state. In another major change, assisting a foreign state, foreign organization, undefined “unconstitutional entity”, or their representatives, in carrying out “hostile activities against the security of the state” including “through disinformation campaigns” is a new form of “high treason.” In short, anyone identified as being pro-Russian is a traitor.
The US State Department is already gearing up for the prospect that the widespread opposition existing in Moldova to President Sandu will manifest. In its October 22 press release applauding the country’s recent pro-EU vote but clearly worried about the November 3 presidential election, the American agency stated, “The United States remains concerned Russia will again attempt to prevent Moldovans from exercising their sovereign right to choose their own leaders.” In other words, if the vote does not go the way Washington wants, it will be declared illegitimate.
The geostrategic location of Moldova has placed the country at the center of the US and EU’s war calculations and efforts to break-up and subjugate Russia. In late May, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken promised a $135 million aid package to support Moldova’s energy security and counter Russia. NATO runs many programs in the country and is centrally involved in training its military. Among the efforts that the alliance lists on its country page for the Black Sea nation is, “support for the training of public information specialists within the country’s armed forces”—in other words, experts in pro-American propaganda.
Writing for the Center for Strategic and International Studies in June, Daniel Runde and Thomas Bryja declared, “Now is the time for the West to ‘go big’ on Moldova.” “U.S. policymakers should view Moldova’s current pro-Ukrainian government and path to economic resilience as critical to Ukraine’s success in the war, given that the alternative—a pro-Russian or corrupt Moldovan leader—could thwart Moldova’s aspirations of Western alignment, leave Ukraine cornered, and ultimately dim Kyiv’s prospects for survival,” they added.
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Publish date : 2024-10-24 22:12:00
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