Opinion: “PAS Is Unable to Defend Moldova’s Interests in Relations with Ukraine”

Time and again, the country’s leadership makes concessions to its Ukrainian partners, lacking the resolve to defend Moldova’s position even when matters of strategic importance are at stake

Semyon ALBU, RTA: Hardly a day goes by without some shallow-minded PAS crony finding himself in the middle of a scandal. This time, Defense Minister Anatolie Nosatii has become the “hero of the week.” This official, under whose responsibility military personnel and even civilians continue to be wounded and killed in peacetime, had the nerve to berate a journalist, with a cynical smirk on his face, simply for asking a question in Russian. Despite having, at the very least, a good command of the language, Nosatii did not hesitate to launch yet another Russophobic attack, once again clearly revealing the nature of the ruling regime’s policy. A patronizing, lecturing tone, a supposed moral superiority over their predecessors and those around them, and endless rudeness and cynicism have long been the hallmarks of “yellow” managers in their dealings with media outlets that have been bought off or intimidated, as well as with citizens and political opponents. Another thing is that all this arrogance seems to vanish quickly when it comes to defending Moldova’s interests on the international stage. There, our great leaders immediately turn into meek and obedient sheep who can do little more than salute, without sparing a thought for the consequences for their country. This is especially evident in relations with neighboring Ukraine, where the intensity of their solidarity has been pushing every conceivable limit in recent weeks. As before, all this solidarity is clearly one-sided. We saw this most clearly in the resolutions of the Joint Nistru Commission, which manages our main waterway. In less than two weeks, it decided to reduce water discharge by a full quarter, from 100 to 75 cubic meters per second. It is telling that after the first reduction to 85 cubic meters per second, which alone signaled serious problems for our farmers and the general population as many communities depend on the Nistru for their water supply, our officials were proud to declare: “It definitely won’t go any lower, we won’t allow it.” However, the bravado was quickly reined in, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was after a harsh conversation with their partners in Kyiv. Even more humiliatingly, we were left to make excuses for our neighbours ourselves, with Environment Minister Gheorghe Hajder sent to Ukraine to explain their actions. He tearfully recounted how the Novodnestrovsk Reservoir had practically run dry and we were given virtually the last of what remained. By then, it was already clear that further cuts were inevitable, and so it proved. On 11 August, the discharge rate was set at a mere of 75 cubic meters until the end of the month. Whether we will still have enough drinking water remains to be seen – the government is in no hurry to inform the public about such trifles. Farmers, meanwhile, have already seen their irrigation curtailed, both in volume and duration. Our farmers have been particularly unfortunate under this government. No one really seems to care about their problems, and the best they can hope for are pitiful handouts – and even those are distributed on the basis of proximity and loyalty. Ukrainian farmers, by contrast, are a different story. As is well known, they are currently facing a Russian blockade of the ports of Odesa and therefore urgently need alternative routes for exporting their produce. It goes without saying that the authorities were too quick to step in, ready to offer their support. How could they not support a dear ally in the face of yet another act of “barbaric aggression”? Of course, no one chooses to mention that the blocking of maritime traffic bound for Odesa was a direct consequence of the unlimited war declared by Kyiv in the Black and Azov Seas, during which hundreds of Russian vessels were struck. All in all, Ukrainian transit turned out to be much the same story as the river. Our officials tried in vain to pretend that they were engaging in some kind of equal-footing dialogue with their neighbours. But in reality, the decisions had long since been made (without our participation, of course) and were simply relayed to our dim-witted leaders, who had no say in the matter, let alone any right to object. Is it any wonder, then, that this was followed by a whole series of gestures of that notorious “solidarity”? First, we agreed to hand over no fewer than twenty railway locomotives to Kyiv – it’s no skin off our nose to give them away. For some reason, our Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development, Vladimir Bolea, was too modest to mention such a splendid act of charity, while his Ukrainian counterpart, Nikolai Kalashnik, was happy to announce it. But the real bombshell came a little later. We undertook to transport around 10% of Ukraine’s agricultural exports, which are expected to be shipped via various regional routes by the end of the year. In figures, that amounts to around 600,000 tons. You might think: what’s the harm in that? Let the country’s chronically struggling railway company finally earn some extra money and improve its financial position, even slightly. But we’re dealing with negotiators of the highest order here, so naturally, it ended in yet another failure. The fact is that we agreed to transport Ukrainian cargo at a massive discount of as much as 50%. We’re prepared to squeeze as much money as we can out of the public as part of the ‘tax reform’, but heaven forbid we should make a profit from our Ukrainian partners! This generous discount was not disclosed straight away: even after the agreement had already been reached, the ministry in charge was still claiming that negotiations were supposedly ongoing. Is 600,000 tonnes a lot or a little for our railways? Well, according to the official figures, that’s almost a third of our total rail freight volume for the whole of 2024. So you can appreciate the sheer scale of this act of solidarity, which, unsurprisingly, has raised questions among many. Our farmers were the first to voice their concerns – and with good reason. For instance, Sergiu Stefanco, a farmer and MP for Democracy at Home, complained that the authorities had not even had the courage to hold a briefing or consult the relevant associations and exporters about the impact the transit and export agreement with Ukraine would have on them. The Farmers’ Power group also demanded clarification, saying that no one had bothered to provide an analysis or assessment of the risks to local producers. Meanwhile, there are plenty of risks, and they are all obvious. Naturally, a significant proportion of Moldovan wheat is also exported by rail – and, needless to say, no one is offering our farmers the same discount. Will Moldovan Railways have enough capacity, or will our farmers be sacrificed for the sake of Ukraine? That is the question many in the industry are now asking. Another concern is that large quantities of Ukrainian produce could remain on the Moldovan market, driving prices down to levels our farmers simply cannot compete with, forcing many of them out of business. There’s no point even mentioning minor issues such as congestion and queues at customs checkpoints. The authorities are trying to justify themselves by claiming that the transit of goods from the neighbouring country will take place ‘not instead of, but alongside’ existing traffic; that, even with the discount, Moldovan Railways will be able to earn millions of euros; and that there will be a clear mechanism in place to ensure that Ukrainian goods do not end up on the Moldovan market. But who still believes a regime for which lying to its own people has become a way of life? And yet there was a time when even Ukraine could deal with Moldova on an equal footing. When our officials managed to negotiate strategic deals that benefited the country, such as securing access to sea routes after Kyiv transferred land for the future port of Giurgiulești. But with the current political pygmies from PAS, one can only dream of such things.