“Great National Distraction” Named after Maia Sandu

Sergey CHEBAN

The ruling party uses large-scale foreign policy events to divert peoples’ attention from social and economic failures and weak results of reforms, on the one hand, and to provide good conditions for entering a new electoral period, on the other hand.

Yesterday, Chisinau hosted at the President’s initiative national rally called the European Moldova. Several tens of thousands of people came to the Great National Assembly Square to support Moldova’s accession to the European Union. At the same time, the political statements and decisions prior to the event can only be called a concentrated pro-European spurt by the current government, which seeks not only to stay in the political stardom, but also to glorify its rule period. With the right background, on the rally’s eve, the authorities loudly announced their intention to break with the East and rush into the arms of the united European family. So, Maia Sandu addressed sharp accusations to Moscow in an attempt to overthrow the government, and, therefore, Chisinau no longer considers strategic relations with Russia. In addition, several steps were aimed at breaking ties with the CIS: in particular, the parliament launched a withdrawal from the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs reported on denunciating two of the ten agreements to be withdrawn in the very near future. While the Bloc of Communists and Socialists refused any actions, the Sor Party changed its tactics literally the day before and decided not to try to compete with the pro-government rally by arranging its anti-government counter-events in the south, center and north of the country calling for a referendum on the country’s external vector. The main idea, apparently, was to show the foreign audience a bright contrast in Moldovan society and the lack of a common civil consensus. Building up further potential for his election campaign, Ilan Sor promises, based on the results of his actions, to shape groups to initiate a referendum and submit documents to the Central Election Board. In general, nothing prevented Maia Sandu to declare from a high rostrum in the center of the capital that the people came to the square to clearly, confidently and proudly declare that Moldovans are Europeans, and Moldova’s place is in the EU. According to the president, the country’s current project is to become a full member of the European community by 2030, and this is not only a political obligation of the Moldovan leadership, but also a public demand. President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola arrived in Chisinau as a supporter. Her participation in some way increases the chances of starting negotiations on our country’s accession to the European Union. Roberta Metsola expressed her hope that this will happen already this year, as our country is already ready for a deeper integration into the EU. The final resolution of the rally, which, no doubt, was forged not by people, but by the brightest minds of foreign advisers seconded to Chisinau, can be considered a kind of road map of the ruling party shared by the “population”. If we go in order, then all the political elites, parties and politicians involved in deciding the fate of Moldova are being asked to take the following priority steps that should bring our country into the bosom of the European family. First of all, it is proposed to amend the Constitution in order to finally and unconditionally secure the accession of the republic to the European Union. As you know, a similar law in Ukraine was adopted in 2019 on the eve of the presidential elections, but did not help Petro Poroshenko to be re-elected for a second term. In theory, amending the main law will require a long procedure and a qualified majority of votes, and it’s a coin toss whether the party in power could be able to get. But there are no impossible tasks for the PAS lawyers, therefore, using the example of renaming the language, the authorities can resort to appropriate legal tricks in the name of electoral and political goals. It is further proposed to ensure that accession negotiations start as soon as possible and to strengthen state institutions. Here we must admit that not everything depends on Chisinau: the European Commission will have the last word, since its opinion will play a decisive role in shaping the consensus of all member countries. In autumn, Brussels will evaluate Chisinau’s ability to effectively implement the recommendations, after which the EU will determine whether it is worth entering a new phase of integration. The next demand calls on the authorities to ensure the speedy implementation of European legislation, with the involvement of experts from countries that have recently experienced a similar stage of accession, in particular from Romania. This point was certainly liked by the unionists, who consider merging the two states through the penetration of Romanian experts into the Moldovan government system and the build-up of officials from nationals of the neighboring state. In principle, we have to recognize that Moldova has neither the staff, nor the resource potential to cope with the European integration, even if such a prospect is given to us. Therefore, regrettably for state-minded people, parallel creeping integration with Romania can facilitate the difficult task of joining the EU. This is followed by a call to expand the international context for negotiations on a peaceful and final resolution of the Transnistrian conflict, and to use the EU accession process as a catalyst to improve the well-being and living standard of Moldovan nationals residing in the reintegrated Transnistrian region. It is difficult to understand what exactly this paragraph implies: either addition of a few more important participants to the 5+2 Format (China?), or the exclusion of Tiraspol and Moscow from it. In any case, this call is most certainly connected with some kind of global changes in the structure of negotiations on the Transnistrian settlement. In addition to the above, “people” are asking the authorities to join forces to raise living standards to the European level, upgrade settlements, and ensure the interconnection of all infrastructure systems with the European market, in order to irrevocably break ties with the post-Soviet area, its low social standards and energy prices. The list ends with the demand to strongly condemn the illegal and inhuman war unleashed by Russia in Ukraine, and to take a clear position against people who started this war and were declared war criminals by international institutions. It is difficult to imagine what else Chisinau needs to do in order to dispel all doubts about its “orientation” with regard to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. However, the second part of this paragraph is unequivocal that we must openly oppose Vladimir Putin, who has been put on the wanted list by the UN International Criminal Court, in order, apparently, to dash his hopes of regaining control of “pro-Russian Moldova” for the last time. Yesterday’s national assembly and its final declaration, which will obviously become the basis of the PAS election program, can be called the official inclusion of the ruling party in the election campaign. The final chord will be the summit of the European Political Community. With all the splendor and emotional nature, the main task of yesterday’s event is absolutely banal, i.e. to cloud social and economic failures of the authorities, to distract from low management efficiency and weak results in the implementation of reforms. That is, to interrupt this failed policy with large-scale foreign policy and geopolitical goals to overshadow the peoples’ basic needs with their grandeur.