Expert: Ruling Regime Failed Country’s Reintegration Policy

The energy crisis has proved that the authorities did not really engage in the last few years in strengthening reintegration policies and still have no clear idea how to reunite the country

Sergiu CEBAN, RTA: Yesterday’s news allows us to forecast with cautious optimism the imminent compromise between Chisinau and Tiraspol, which will finally put an end to the energy crisis. It is quite possible that it will be an intermediate one, and new crisis impulses are waiting for us in the not so distant future. Undoubtedly, the “gas issue” is deeply and firmly embedded in the Transnistrian settlement process. Therefore, despite all the disadvantages, this unpleasant case helped to uncover, or more precisely, to debunk the so-called “reintegration policy”, actively promoted by our authorities for the past few years. It seemed to many people, including us, that unlike its predecessors, the Action and Solidarity party, together with Maia Sandu, was pursuing a conscious strategy. That even if it does not give immediate success, in the medium term the results will definitely come. However, the government’s first messages in the light of the impending energy shock seemed a bit strange to us. They clearly did not correspond to the critical situation that was gradually covering the left bank of the Dniester. For some reason, a spokesman for the Cabinet of Ministers publicly addressed the inhabitants of the Transnistrian region against the background of Mircea Snegur’s book, announcing Chisinau’s intention to take care of them by offering, for example, to download online versions of school textbooks. In similar vein for several weeks the reintegration office was engaged in some bickering with the Tiraspol administration about the willingness of the central authorities to assist the Transnistrian population. Instead of getting involved in verbal disputes, we could have generated positive initiatives. For instance, small groups of citizens who announced the collection of humanitarian aid and promptly delivered it to the left bank. That is why it is a mystery to many people why there was all this public escapade, Oleg Serebrian’s press conference, when people were waiting for real help. It is not yet clear why it was impossible to offer it to Tiraspol in a concrete list and to publish it without being tied to the places and format of meetings of political representatives. Another strange episode occurred amid the decision taken on 6 January by the Commission for Emergency Situations to connect Varnita and Copanca to the networks of the right-bank electricity supplier Premier Energy. In addition, 14 other settlements are to be integrated into the gas distribution networks of the licensed operators SA Moldovagaz within a year. At first glance, it seems like a sensible decision to help the villagers who are experiencing inconvenience due to power cuts. Maia Sandu travelled to Copanca, expecting a warm welcome from the villagers. But the reception turned out to be even “hot” in some places, so much so that some statements of Copanca residents, who came to talk to the head of state, were censored. This was perhaps the most vivid proof that there is not a single person in the current government or among Sandu’s advisers who professionally understands the mood of the people in the settlements of the Security Zone and what actions are actually expected from the authorities. Apart from Chisinau and Tiraspol, whose behavior in recent years everyone preferred to simply observe, the crisis has forced international players to start showing themselves somehow. Kyiv offered coal as tolling raw material. Moscow decided to buy humanitarian volumes of gas. The EU and the USA probably also voiced their offers, but already through Maia Sandu. The day before yesterday, she said that foreign donors were ready to provide financial assistance to Tiraspol, but under political conditions - withdrawal of Russian troops and reform of the peacekeeping operation. As a result, everything went according to some spontaneous scenario. This, firstly, demonstrates the lack of any clear strategy on the part of Chisinau and, secondly, will maintain the general outline of the political status quo in relations between the banks of the Dniester. In other words, the drastic changes that many people expected did not happen for some reason. Some might say that Chisinau missed its chance and closed the “reintegration window of opportunity”. And someone, having assessed the situation on a large scale, will conclude that in its current state the country is absolutely not ready for reunification. All the previous years, the authorities told us that their main success was to maintain controllability and stability in relations with the Transnistrian region. In fact, it turned out that the reintegration problem was deliberately disguised from public attention, and at the first shock, it came to light. Besides, we were told, including court political analysts, that the refusal of Gazprom to supply energy resources to the left bank would open wide opportunities for accelerating the country’s unification. Admittedly, in three weeks we have not been able to see them, except for attempts to bargain with Tiraspol and shift the responsibility on to foreign partners. This is an indicator of an extremely childish behavior of our leadership. Therefore, it is not surprising that Chisinau has failed to reintegrate even a few villages in the Security Zone in terms of energy, not to mention the return of the entire left bank under constitutional control. Moreover, it seems that over the last three weeks the two banks of the Dniester have only drifted apart: each of them has plunged into its own reality, as if it were the mid-90s. It is not even worth talking about the deterioration of the attitude of the Transnistrian population towards the central authorities. Most likely, the level of trust has fallen to one of the lowest levels in the last 15-20 years. At the parliamentary elections, this may lead not to absenteeism of the left-bank voters, but on the contrary, to motivated protest participation in the voting. During the last week, the ruling regime has received a barrage of other awkward questions, as it turned out that the public was only trying to build the illusion of a tough and uncompromising line towards Tiraspol. For this purpose, various laws were adopted, including laws against separatism, customs duties and other rigid measures to integrate into the single legal field. But in fact, it turned out that the Prime Minister almost personally meets and sees off the Transnistrian leader in the VIP zone of the capital’s airport. In fact, the crisis broke cover and revealed to all of us the real picture that the authorities have not been engaged in strengthening the reintegration policy for the last few years. Maia Sandu tried to reassure everyone again yesterday by saying that Chisinau allegedly already has a plan of financial support for unification, and also a reintegration plan, which is already two years old. But, as they say, the ship has sailed. Everyone understands that in fact, at yesterday’s hastily convened Supreme Security Council, a decision in principle was taken to resume gas supplies to the left bank, most likely without any reintegration effects. Formally, the current government plans to hold out until autumn, i.e. until the end of the parliamentary mandate, and anything can still happen. But the first and most obvious conclusion that can be drawn at the current stage is that the PAS, together with its cabinet and Maia Sandu, has almost completely failed the country’s reunification policy.