Dodon: I Became Statesman Last Year When Overthrowing Plahotniuc

President of the Republic of Moldova Igor Dodon said in an interview to Free Europe that he became a statesman namely last year, when Vlad Plahotniuc got overthrown. Dodon stressed that today he is more focused on strategy, europalibera.org reported. "What does that mean - more strategic?" - the journalist asked. “More strategic thinking. The difference between a politician and a statesman is very great: a politician thinks about the next elections while a statesman is engaged in protecting the state interests regardless of whether he loses in the rating when moving towards any goals in the interests of the state. Shortly, if I run for president, I am sure that everyone understands that my chances of winning are the highest, despite everything that happens. And, of course, this will be the last mandate in my life," Igor Dodon said. The President noted that today he is not so anxious to please some group of voters to receive the vote of confidence. “And since the priorities are different, I'm less concerned about how to please a certain group of voters, just to get another vote of confidence. Strategic issues appear and we begin thinking more strategically. It is quite possible we’ll have to give up on something, perhaps, you will have to take some steps that part of society will not accept, but these are state interests, our country’s interests! I think I became a statesman, not just a politician, last year, when I overthrew Plahotniuc. Because a politician could have acted in some other way but the interests of the state demanded taking this step and I took it, "Dodon stressed.