Der Spiegel: Putin focused on the Republic of Moldova

Keno Versek writes about this in his article “Putin focused on the Republic of Moldova”, published on the website of the German newspaper Der Spiegel.

20 January this year, three MEPs flew to Chisinau, the capital of the Republic of Moldova. Among them was the Westphalian Christian Democrat Elmar Brock, chairman of the foreign affairs committee and one of the most influential parliamentarians of the EU. The mission of the trio: to help the pro-European majority government stand up in a small former Soviet republic. Little was left of their efforts. Now even NATO is warning about Russian aggression in a small country.

NATO Supreme Commander Philip Breedlove said on Wednesday in front of the Committee on Defense of the US House of Representatives that Russia is conducting an extensive information campaign in "Moldova and other places."

Soldiers and arms stocks of Moscow are still present in Transnistria, on the border with Ukraine, despite the withdrawal agreement concluded in 1999. Russia uses these soldiers now to “keep Moldova from rapprochement with the West,” warns Breedlove.

During the elections of November 30, 2014, three so-called pro-European parties won a weak majority in Moldova. But the Liberal Party withdrew from negotiations to create a coalition: it would not be able to realize its demands for judicial reform and the fight against corruption. The three parties at the same time agreed that an independent, EU-backed prosecutor general should bring order to the country's quasi-mafia economic and financial structures. “Nevertheless,” says Brock, “even then I had a hunch that the oligarchs didn’t want this.”

Last week, the Liberal Democratic Party and the Democratic Party formed a minority government with the support of the Communists. Kirill Gaburici, 38-year-old businessman and former manager of telecommunications companies in the Republic of Moldova and Azerbaijan, became Prime Minister.

The majority of independent observers in the country are sure: this government will turn the Republic of Moldova from its previous pro-European reform course and will return to rapprochement with Russia.

“There is still no legal state in the Republic of Moldova,” says political analyst Oazu Nantoi. “The big danger now is that rapprochement with the EU and constitutional reforms will be just a hoax. This is exactly what Putin wants to achieve. ”

Moscow puts pressure on gas supplies

In fact, Russia has been participating in determining the fate of a small country for more than a quarter of a century:

The Republic of Moldova, independent from 1991, has become almost completely dependent on the supply of Russian energy, especially Russian gas. Moldavgaz, the Moldovan state gas company, is half-owned by the Russian company Gazprom.

Russia is the main market for Moldovan agricultural products, besides hundreds of thousands of Moldovan guest workers work in Russia. Their remittances make up a significant part of the gross social product of Moldova.

In Transnistria in the east of Moldova, where Moscow-supported separatists reigned for 25 for years, Russia also deployed soldiers and an extensive arsenal of weapons around 2000, which is not withdrawn, despite the 1999 agreement of the year.

Whenever a country with three and a half million people in recent years has rebelled against Russian influence, Moscow has put pressure on it. Basically, with the help of gas, and, increasingly, import sanctions. In September, 2013, when the Eastern Partnership in the EU for the Moldovan Republic became possible, Russia stopped importing wine and brandy, allegedly due to poor quality. The sanctions were tightened and spread to fruits when, in the summer of 2014, Moldova entered into an Association Agreement with the EU.

Oligarchs are not interested in rapprochement with the EU

Russia also controls and finances a part of political parties in the country. This is especially important, first of all, for the “Party of Socialists”, an offshoot of the Communists, which at the elections in November became the strongest parliamentary party and demands membership in the Eurasian Economic Union. The leader of the socialists, Igor Dodon, is known primarily for his political speeches in Moscow, and much less as a member of the Chisinau parliament.

Due to their hidden business ties with Russia, Moldovan oligarchs are also not interested in the European integration process. The embodiment of this elite is businessman Vlad Plakhotnyuk, 49 years old, the gray cardinal of the Democratic Party and one of the main "puppeteers" of the Moldavian Republic. Presumably, he “knocked out” his fortune of several hundred million dollars, in particular, with the help of the so-called raider attacks on Moldovan banks and insurance companies. The term is hidden theft of shares in companies that have been legalized with the help of corrupt judges and officials.

Plakhotnyuk probably also laundered money for Russian banks, so Interpol temporarily conducted an investigation against him. “In the Republic of Moldova there is a state in the state, and the rules are established by clans for the clans,” said the Moldovan journalist Natalia Morari.

Formally, the pro-European government

Observers consider the new head of the government of Gaburici only a puppet of oligarchs. Formally, Gaburici is in favor of continuing the pro-European course, but in fact, his government is seeking, above all, to coordinate everything with Russia. In his first comments, Gaburich avoided criticism of Russia's actions in Ukraine and politely urged the separatists in his own country to "constructive dialogue."

Because Russia is now creating a new threat in the Moldavian Republic: The Gagauz minority autonomous region in the south of the country faces gubernatorial elections in March - where political leaders have long threatened secession and annexation with Russia. As a result of this, the country will completely collapse, and Transnistria has long been looking for a way to become part of Russia.

Does this mean that the Eastern Partnership in the EU is canceled for the Republic of Moldova? “No way,” says Elmar Brock. "If we now declare that everything has failed, then we will throw the Republic of Moldova into Russia, then Putin will win, and we certainly do not want that."