“Seats for Loyalty”, or How PAS Rewards Its Henchmen

Sergiu CEBAN

The closer the elections come, the more often the ruling regime will use positions in Moldovan embassies abroad and state agencies as a means of paying for loyal and obedient service

The Recean-led government has about half a year left. Most likely, it will function until the parliament is re-elected, especially since the prime minister has recently stated with confidence that he was not going to resign. At the same time, as the media correctly pointed out, only three ministers from Natalia Gavrilita’s first cabinet were able to hold on to their seats during the incomplete four years. It has been noticed many times that at the end of a mandate, any Moldovan government suddenly turns its eyes to the diplomatic service, quickly vacating ambassadorial posts and sending the most obedient and loyal officials on long foreign trips. Ideally, such rotations should be made at the very beginning of a mandate, to strengthen capabilities on the external perimeter. But in our reality, political traditions are quite different, and ambassadorial posts have become a kind of state honors for loyalty. And the times ahead won’t be easy. In the emerging international context, much will depend on the experience, skills and abilities of our diplomats, some of whom are truly professional specialists with good careers. Meanwhile, there are useless appointees who get into the foreign ministry system through political and other patronage and weaken the potential of the foreign policy service. As to foreign minister Mihai Popşoi personally, of course, he is far from foreign policy and is a banal henchman of both the ruling regime and transnational structures that control political processes in Moldova. His actions and statements clearly show that the interests of the minister are not related to the well-being of the country, but only follow the line of those forces that seek to continue the confrontation with Russia and with the new White House office. This seems to be the reason why the status of the head of the Russian diplomatic mission in Chisinau, Oleg Ozerov, is still uncertain, violating generally accepted diplomatic rules. During this year, we do not forecast any serious shift in Russian-Moldovan contacts, unless something extraordinary happens in the settlement of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, which will affect Moldova’s strategic status to a greater or lesser extent. At the same time, our leadership makes a clear choice in favor of Kyiv. By the way, unlike Ozerov, the recently arrived new Ukrainian ambassador Paun Rohovei has already presented his credentials to Maia Sandu. Two of our general consulates are to be opened this year in the USA, Moldova’s key foreign policy partner. At the same time, a thick cloud of uncertainty hangs over the embassy in Washington, and more precisely over its head Viorel Ursu. Some data suggest that the USA recommends to replace this person, which is a strong push for the foreign ministry to make the appropriate personnel decision. The fact that the competition for the coveted position has already begun is proved by the reports about Ursu’s financial and material assets, which he managed to accumulate during his short period in office, as well as the resignation of the minister of economy and rumors that he is being prepared to be sent to Washington as ambassador. Meanwhile, the government is strengthening its diplomatic presence in Central Asia, planning to soon establish an embassy in the region’s largest state, Kazakhstan. In early March, the government appointed Stefan Gorda as ambassador to that country. He previously held senior positions in the Foreign Ministry, representing Moldova in the Czech Republic, at the Holy See, in Bulgaria, Albania and Northern Macedonia. He was director of the Diplomatic Institute from 2020 to 2022 and now works at the embassy in Ukraine. This is perhaps one of the few cases when a new foreign policy area has been entrusted to a truly experienced specialist. But, as usual, for every good example, there are three negative ones. For instance, the case of the new ambassador to Ireland. The government wants to send one of the state secretaries of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Jana Costachi, to Dublin. The newly appointed diplomat has an unclear 15-year experience and is a so-called ‘international expert’ in human rights and freedoms, promoting equal opportunities in social dialogue, social policy, migration regulation, and so on. But we do know that Costachi’s main achievement is being the sister of the Attorney General, Ion Munteanu. In early February, Israel opened its embassy in Chisinau, expanding Moldova’s diplomatic geography. However, just a few weeks later, the authorities found themselves embroiled in a scandal that had been raging for weeks over history textbooks for 12th-grade students. These textbooks provide a very peculiar interpretation of the early 1940s, particularly the brutal crimes committed against the Jewish population of Bessarabia, in which the Romanian administration and local collaborators played an active role. Somehow, it seems obvious that manipulating the topic of the Holocaust is not the best way to enhance relations with a country like Israel. What should Moldova’s diplomatic corps expect in the coming months? Those who seriously believe that the parliamentary majority is driven by a desire to strengthen the country’s foreign policy position are likely to be disappointed. The decisions of the government and the PAS party before the elections will be motivated primarily by the desire to shield their team from possible political reprisals and criminal prosecution – and honestly, this is something that certain officials have already given plenty of reasons for. Moreover, after the U.S. cut budget spending on various international programs (including for media outlets established back in the Cold War era), all those project managers, opinion-makers, and influencers who had faithfully served Maia Sandu and PAS in recent years now need to be taken care of, so they are not left in the lurch. And right now, the only way to do that is through state resources and public positions. This is exactly what we saw with the Ministry of Economic Development and Digitalization, where the utterly incompetent Dumitry Alaiba is being considered for an ambassadorial post, while former high-ranking USAID official in Moldova, Doina Nistor, is appointed to replace him. Surely, in the coming months, we can expect more staffing surprises as ambassadorial positions are handed out to loyal adherents of the ruling regime. Meanwhile, state institutions will be reinforced by yet another wave of ‘professionals’ from the non-government organization sector and ‘independent’ media.