Expert: USA, Europe and Russia to Build a New Country in Moldova

RTA expert Dmitry Astakhov suggests that Moldova is to be a foundation for a new state, and deoligarchization is a convenient excuse to crack down on dissenters. Dmitry Astakhov, RTA: The further the situation in Moldova is from the tumultuous events of June, when politicians all together overthrew the annoying Plahotniuc, the more boring it becomes on the political front. It is time for sluggish staff changes in the authorities of the second and third echelons. The main source of the former energy – the deoligarchization – is rapidly losing its potential and is not that impressive. The Prosecutor General’s office was the last ‘redoubt’ of the Democratic Party’s power, and will soon also surrender to the new government, though not without a fight. It raises a simple question ‘What next?’. How will the alliance partners conduct, having lost the common goal in the form of the fight against the oligarchic system? It seems that the already divided coalition partners will, as usual, get at each other. All will come into play: from traditional geopolitical, ethno-national and linguistic contradictions to mutual accusations of cooperation with the previous government. In general, no unity of the Moldovan society is expected in the near future, at least until the next elections. Such a course of events, apparently, does not suit Moscow, which in the person of Igor Dodon flexibly, but very clearly signals to the pro-European allies about its desire to maintain the current format of power in Moldova. The Kremlin offers to continue abandoning the strong (geo)political rhetoric, to determine the agreed rules of the game in local elections, and not to mess things up in such sensitive issues as the Transdniestrian settlement. We can only assume what lies behind such a long-term strategy and can actually become a national idea that will unite the Moldovan elite and prevent the eternal internal political conflicts in the country. Moscow, as one of the main players in Moldova, has improved its long-standing project of ‘Moldovenism’ and in recent decades has been actively offering Chisinau the concept of ‘Moldovan civil nation’. The idea is to build a single civil nation in Moldova, without division by identity, language, ethnicity and geopolitical preferences. Although until the overthrow of the openly Russophobic regime of Plahotniuc, this concept had almost no chance of succeeding and almost no one in Chisinau was seriously interested, Russia’s offer is still open. The logic of Moscow, of course, implies a national integration and even unification with unrecognized Transdniestria in a new common state. The headline-making statement of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Moldova Nicu Popescu about the civil war came in handy as never before and found a proper response from Moscow, as it harmoniously fits into the logic of civil reconciliation. The strong reaction to the words of the Foreign Minister clearly shows that not everyone in Moldova is ready for the idea of ‘world peace’. Meanwhile, it is important to note that in recent years the ideas of the ‘Moldovan civil nation’ became relevant not only for the national minorities of Moldova, but also in the camp of pro-Western Moldovan intellectuals, who have implemented a number of corresponding research projects by order of European funds and research centers. It should be noted that the main part of the representatives of this research group is close to the current government, including Adviser to the Prime Minister Vladislav Kulminski and his colleagues-diplomats Andrei Popov and Iulian Groza. It is interesting to know how interested Moldova is and how ready Washington and Brussels are, first of all, to support the idea of the Kremlin to create a new type of state from Moldova, devoid of geopolitical and national coloring. What makes me think that Western capitals explore similar ideas is that Washington has seriously strengthened its work in recent months to study the situation on the Dniester and the real readiness of the two banks to live in a single unitary state. Apparently, some centers of power in the West are seriously considering some new formula for a political settlement of the Transdniestrian issue, which will not only freeze the conflict even more, but also bury the hatchet on the Dniester. There is reason to believe that, acting together, the US, Russia and the EU did not set themselves short-term tactical objectives and, perhaps, in the near future we will see the contours of the strategy for a deep restructuring of the Moldovan state. Deoligarchization of Moldova in this sense can only be a good prologue and a reason for ‘cleansing’ of the Moldovan authorities of all personalities, one way or another hindering the process of creating a new country.