Ostalep: Western Support for Moldovan Authorities Could Backfire

The former deputy foreign minister pointed out that in the upcoming parliamentary elections, “there will be no vote for Maia Sandu, and equating Maia Sandu with PAS is a big mistake”. Valeriu Ostalep said that PAS position is not what the authorities would like it to be, as they conduct their own surveys and see what is happening. In addition, there is a growing number of different, rather dangerous players who will be a problem for the party in these elections, according to noi.md. The security expert and former deputy foreign minister also pointed out that PAS sees that foreign presidents and prime ministers, with their support for the current Moldovan authorities, are no longer “working”, but rather are causing rejection. “They no longer have any effect on people. It doesn’t matter that a minister from some country X arrived there and said for the 500 billionth time that he supports something there. It no longer has any influence,” said Valeriu Ostalep. According to him, the involvement of a large number of European leaders on the eve of the presidential campaign in Moldova did not particularly affect the results. Similar interference may also occur now, but it will have the opposite effect. “This is already annoying people who see that economic growth in the country is zero. They see prices, they see energy, they see repression. And people don’t quite understand why people in white shirts are coming to Moldova for the first time and saying that there has never been anything like this here before. That is, such herd humiliation at the same time. And it’s clear that this causes a corresponding reaction in people. In the regions, if you drive even 15 km away from Chisinau, the mood is completely different,” emphasized the security expert and former deputy foreign minister.