"How Would You Describe Your Relationship with Russia." What Maia Sandu Was Asked About in PACE

Following her speech at the meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), President of Moldova Maia Sandu was taking questions from the PACE deputies for 40 minutes. They were interested in the relations between Chisinau and Tiraspol, the rights of the Gagauz people, the status of the Russian language, the name of the state language in Moldova and relations with Russia. NM has selected the most interesting questions and answers. Political crisis The deputy from the Netherlands, Tiny Kox, noted that, according to the president, there is no functional government in Moldova, her candidates for prime minister are not approved by the parliament, and she does not support candidates for the head of the cabinet from parliament. “It turns out to be a conflict between the branches of power, but Moldova is a parliamentary country, as it is written in the Constitution. How, in the end, can this problem be solved?" Kox asked. Sandu replied that her task now is to give people the opportunity to elect parliament. She referred to the data of opinion polls, according to which more than 70 percent of citizens are in favor of early elections, and to the fact that political parties also announced the need for early elections. “Those who voted in the presidential elections spoke out against corruption and for the reform of justice. And I want their voice to be heard in the parliamentary elections. Moldova desperately needs political will, the cooperation of all state institutions in order to fight corruption and reform the justice system so that people stop leaving and they have economic opportunities in the country. People support reforms. I hope that this support will be reflected in the formation of an honest parliament. But it's up to people to decide,” Sandu said. Pierre-Alain Fridez from Switzerland asked Sandu how she intends to hold early parliamentary elections amid the pandemic, which the members of the current parliament in Moldova referred to when they introduced the state of emergency in the country. Sandu objected that the state of emergency in Moldova was introduced by politicians who do not want early elections, but the country cannot constantly be in a state of emergency. “People see everything clearly. The measures taken by the government after the introduction of the state of emergency are no different from those they took before the state of emergency. The goals of this step are clear to everyone. We will see the Constitutional Court's decision in that regard, some deputies have applied to the court with a request to cancel the state of emergency,” Sandu said. French MP Bernard Fournier recalled that during the election campaign, Sandu was committed to fighting corruption. He asked how she could achieve this goal in the absence of the support of the parliamentary majority. Sandu, in turn, recalled that a few days ago the Constitutional Court issued a decision that allows her to dissolve the parliament. She hopes that this time Moldova will have a parliamentary majority that will support the anti-corruption agenda. “This is not my anti-corruption agenda, this is the agenda of the residents of Moldova, as evidenced by the results of the presidential elections,” she said. Relations with Russia British MP John Howell noted that Moldova is perhaps a small country but it has an important geopolitical position. He asked Sandu if her "Western orientation and anti-corruption focus" had led to problems with Russia. He also asked if the election of pro-Western deputies who would follow her guidelines could aggravate the problems with Russia. “My election entailed a complication of relations with Russia, while, of course, we have a serious agenda - trade, Transnistria, weapons and the Russian army. This is not a simple agenda, we are concerned about the development of events in the region, but we would like to be able to focus on internal reforms,” Sandu said. The deputy from Lithuania Laima Andrikiene also asked about relations with Russia. “How would you describe your relationship with Russia? We are all concerned about the tensions around Ukraine. Do you feel safe, do you feel any unwanted influence from Russia?” she asked. Sandu replied that Moldova is interested in having good relations with all countries. “Of course, we are concerned about the situation in the region and we hope that all this will be resolved by the world. We have a rich agenda with Russia, we want to resume our trade regime, which existed before the Association Agreement with the EU was signed,” Sandu explained. The President recalled that many Moldovan citizens work in Russia. And in this context, she stressed that the agenda of relations with Russia also includes an agreement on social protection of citizens. “We have a lot to do and we are interested in dialogue,” the head of state said. Languages ​​and minorities Romanian MP Titus Corlatean asked Sandu about "national identity, which, in his words, plays an important role in the country's self-determination." “Any decision of the Constitutional Court must be fully implemented. For example, there is a decision of the Constitutional Court on the correlation between the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, that the state language in Moldova is Romanian. Will this be implemented by the new parliament and government?" Corlatean asked. Sandu noted that this is a question for parliament, since only the legislature can change articles of the Constitution. But so far, she clarified, there were not enough deputies' votes to change the name of the language "to the correct version." “When we have a parliament ready to change the Constitution, the problem will be solved. What we have to do is introduce programs for people to learn Romanian. We create such programs for ethnic minorities, Gagauz, Ukrainians and others, we are trying to develop such programs,” Sandu said. The question about the language, but this time about Russian, was also asked by the deputy from Russia Yuri Oleinikov. He reminded her that during the presidential elections she spoke with the electorate in Russian, noting that in Moldova many residents speak Russian. “At the same time, when you were the Minister of Education, you lowered the status of the Russian language and everything looks as if it continues today. Do you agree that knowledge of many languages ​​is the path to more effective cultural exchange? And do you think that a commitment to reducing the use of the Russian language is a good way to develop democracy in Moldova?" Oleinikov asked. Sandu answered him in Russian. Before that, she spoke English. The head of state denied the statement that she had developed a law that downgrades the status of the Russian language. “The law that we promoted was that children and their parents could choose which language they want to learn at schools, and Russian was one of those languages. Choice is not against someone, it is so that children and parents decide what is best for them. And again, all the conditions for learning the Russian language remained, no one fired the teachers. I believe that the more languages ​​our children know, the better for our country,” she said. Azerbaijani MP Rafael Huseynov asked the president if she sees threats to the peaceful coexistence of representatives of different nationalities in Moldova and whether special policies are needed to move in this direction. Sandu said she is working to ensure that people in Moldova live peacefully. “In my country, politicians constantly divide people because it’s easier to get their votes, but all this is not in the interests of citizens. People are different, this is true, but they have common goals. And it seems to me that in our country people come to understand that they have more common goals than differences. This allows them to unite around a significant agenda and get rid of the corrupt politicians who divide the country,”she replied. Sandu stressed that she respects all ethnic groups in Moldova. “And I will continue to work to show this respect, as well as take measures to make people feel protected, no matter what language they speak,” the president concluded. Gagauzia PACE member from Austria Stefan Schennach inquired about the state of affairs in Moldova with respect to the rights of residents of the Gagauz autonomy. Sandu replied that Gagauzia is part of Moldova, and she respects the rights of all citizens of Moldova. The head of state also said that the presidential administration is working to improve the program for the study of the Gagauz and Romanian languages. “We are also discussing other problems in the region, but everything is going well,” the president assured. Hungarian MP Barna Zsigmond asked Sandu what she thinks about the prospects of Gagauzia in the light of the unionist movement in Moldova. The President replied that the unionist movement in Moldova has existed since the day of independence and during this time nothing has changed. “There are no threats to the Gagauz autonomy. I am trying to find what unites the society. And in these elections Russian-speaking citizens also voted for me - yes, fewer from Gagauzia, but I need to work on this,” Sandu said. Turkish MP Ahmet Yildiz inquired about the fate of the third draft law from the package of "Gagauz projects", which was prepared with the participation of the OSCE High Commissioner. Sandu said that a working group was created in parliament that developed these bills. But some Members of Parliament, she continued, did not wait for this work to be completed and decided to put these laws to a vote, before the group's work was completed. “And due to the fact that it was used for political purposes, the result was not very good. But in Moldova there is an aspiration to talk about it, we want everyone to feel good,” Sandu said. Protection for women PACE member from Austria Petra Bayr recalled that Moldova signed the Istanbul Convention back in 2017. She asked Sandu when the Moldovan parliament will ratify it. “Everything is changing in Moldova, but slowly. I headed a government where for the first time there were more women ministers than men. We have more women candidates for mayor, it is not easy because often opponents use hate speech, especially men, but we have a lot of brave women,” Sandu said. At the same time, she noted that the problem of violence against women is also acute. And she added that although Moldova has signed the Istanbul Convention, the current parliament does not seem to have enough votes to ratify it and it is necessary to wait for the next parliamentary convocation. “But this is not only about ratification, but about the measures that we must take to protect women. Another area in which we need to work is to eliminate inequality in wages for women and men,” Sandu concluded. According to her, Moldova still has a lot to do.