Podolyak on Risk of Border Closure with Moldova: I Don’t Think This Scenario Is Possible

Adviser to the head of the Ukrainian President’s office Mykhailo Podolyak believes that Ukraine will not face the need to close its borders with Moldova. In his opinion, pro-Russian forces will not be able to win the upcoming election. Podolyak shared his point of view in the program “New Week with Anatolie Golea” on TV8. ‘I don’t think a negative scenario is possible. Moldova is extremely close to European values, extremely close to the values shared by Ukraine and Romania - your neighbors. I don’t see any options for pro-Russian parties to take control of Moldova. Besides, Ukraine has already closed borders with Transnistria (the Transnistrian section of the Moldovan-Ukrainian border),’ the adviser to the head of the Ukrainian President’s office said. Nevertheless, Podolyak noted that pro-Russian parties were making serious efforts to influence the election results. He called it an issue of the country’s internal security. ‘If you do not suppress funding from Russia, if you do not suppress the work of public organizations, if you allow those or other oligarchs who have escaped and live in Moscow to continue funding their parties, if you do not work on their assets, it will look the way it looks today. But I think Moldova is well inoculated by the war in Ukraine, understanding what pro-Russianism is,’ Podolyak added. According to the adviser to the head of the Ukrainian President’s office, the activities of political forces linked to the Kremlin may have serious consequences for Moldova in the future. ‘Pro-Russian parties end up leading to hot wars, which we see today in Ukraine. I want Moldova not to forget this. It does not happen that in one place it works like in Ukraine and in another place it works somehow differently. It will lead to tragedy in any case. I do not interfere in internal politics, but I speak from the outside, how it looks like,’ Podolyak emphasized. Earlier, Ukrainian Ambassador Marko Shevchenko, who is completing his mission in Moldova, said that the border would be closed if pro-Russian parties came to power in the country.