More than Geopolitics – “The Battle for Democracy” as an Expression of the Current Political Crisis in Moldova

Mircea Raicu is an intern at the Latvian Institute of International Affairs

I. Moldova after the Summit from Vilnius

The former Soviet republics located between Russia and the EU have become in the last 7 years the space of a geopolitical rivalry between Moscow and Brussels. Since 2009 (when the Eastern Partnership was launched by the EU) until now, the rivalry between these two powers was constantly growing until the moment when it became an open clash.

The beginning of this clash was symbolically represented by the Eastern Partnership Summit from Vilnius in November 2013. Then, three (Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine) out of six Eastern Partnership states (previous three plus Armenia, Azerbaijan and Belarus) had to agree formally on the association with the EU despite of Russia. In Moscow, the European Eastern policy has been perceived as “a throwing down of the gauntlet” – and after Vilnius the status quo of the relations between the EU and Russia substantially changed.

When the war in the Eastern part of Ukraine erupted, following the annexation of Crimea by Kremlin, the pro-European political elites of Moldova mobilised their efforts to consolidate the stability of the country. And it was the right thing to be done. The scenario applied by Russia in Ukraine could be easily adjusted to Moldova in the same format. Part of the territory (Transnistria) of this small republic is occupied by the Russian Army. Moldova has an overwhelmingly Russophile autonomous community in Găgăuzia, and almost half of its total population is politically and culturally (linguistically) Kremlin-oriented. 

Despite all, the Republic of Moldova succeeded to escape a crisis similar with the Ukrainian one. In contrast with the tumultuous events in Ukraine, Moldova was enjoying a relative peace in paving its way to become the “success story” of the Eastern Partnership[1]. While Kiev lost Crimea in March 2014, Chișinău gained the visa-free regime with the EU’s Schengen zone in April of the same year. Shortly after that, in June 2014 Moldova signed the Association Agreement with the EU and therefore, made its pro-European vector into an “irreversible path”[2], as the former Moldovan prime-minister Vlad Filat declared.

II. The Dualism of Moldova’s European Policy

The irreversible path towards the integration in the EU which Moldova was supposed to continue with, revealed, in fact, the apogee of the European policy of Chișinău. By bringing Moldova into the basic legal framework of the Association Agreement with the EU, the pro-European forces simply exhausted all their efforts and enthusiasm for moving further. The political evolutions in Moldova after the Vilnius Summit show that this deadlock has been artificially created.

Undressing the artisans of Moldova’s success story of their European rhetoric, one can clearly notice that the generation of the pro-European politicians who came to power in 2009 represent a group of oligarchs. Polarised around two main opposing families headed by Vlad Filat and Vlad Plahotniuc, this group transformed the internal policy of Moldova into an oligarchic rivalry for power and state resources. This was, perhaps, the main reason why the two most competing oligarchs Filat and Plahotniuc decided to conclude a European political alliance and therefore, to rule Moldova. The reason why to stop the European integration is as simple as this – the implementation of the Association Agreement agenda is a suicide of the Chișinău’s ruling oligarchic system. More integration within this framework cannot go hand in hand with corruption or politically controlled judicial system.  Therefore, to do nothing (or to do what we want) was the message often coming from the political class.

However, the Moldovan politicians did something. They adopted a dualist European policy in which the crimes committed in internal policy were shattering the successes on the foreign policy. While the competent diplomacy lead by the former prime-minister Iurie Leancă was bringing funds and investments into the country, the corrupt bureaucratic apparatus of the state lead by the politicians was misusing them. This strategy was simply abused by the ruling elites in order to feed the people’s hunger for visible results from the European integration, and to claim for patience and more time for reforms. On the one hand, the ruling elites were giving to the Moldovan people the freedom to travel in the EU’s Schengen space, on the other hand, the state was stealing from them the opportunities to buy travel tickets by performing the suspicious concession of the International Airport[3]. After the Russian company ’’UK Komaks’’ won the contest for modernising Moldova’s airport, the taxes for flights from Moldova increased with several percents. Soon, Moldovan authorities found out that the Russian company is connected with the illegal activities performed by Ilan Shor – another influent oligarch in Moldova who is close to Moscow’s political circles.

Frankly speaking, the European integration process of Moldova is a reflection of what the Romanian writer Titu Maiorescu claims to be “a form without substance”. From 2009 up till the autumn of 2014 Moldova’s short lasting governments did not address the core obstacles for the European integration, such as: corruption, biased judiciary system, and poverty. By undertaking superficial actions which did not affect the economic-political establishment, Chișinău was consuming important resources, peoples’ hopes and dreams, and the EU’s trust.  

 The Degradation of Moldovan Political Class vs. the Awakening of the Civil Society

Since the signing of the Association Agreement with the EU secured Moldova’s relations with Brussels, the oligarchs from Chișinău became unleashed in their struggle for power and resources. This explains the boom of corruption in the country which culminated with the unbelievable EUR 1 billion robbery from the National Bank in autumn 2014. This outrageous act of corruption deprived Moldova of no less than 15 % of its GDP[4]. Given that almost ⅓ of Moldova’s GDP consists of the money sent by the Moldovan Diaspora from to support their families, the robbery threw the country into a socio-economic catastrophe.

Inevitably, the immediate hit the pockets of the people. The raise of taxes for gas, electric energy and the basic food products along with the strong and uncontrollable devaluation of the national currency hurried the pauperization of the Moldovans whose monthly average salary is 190 € netto[5]. The international funding for Moldova is completely cut: there is no agreement with the IMF, the EU funding is stopped and Romania, the main supporter of Moldova’s European path, decided to postpone a EUR 100 million fund because of the political crisis in Chișinău. In these harsh conditions, the people started to nurture strong feelings of injustice, betrayal, and disappointment. Regardless of the level of income, nationality or political beliefs, the citizens of Moldova have developed a strong sense of solidarity against the political anarchy.

It took almost one year for the Moldovans to leave aside their traditional and sometimes unexplainable tolerance and political inactivity. Naturally, the pro-European electorate of the society coagulated a national platform called “Dreptate și Adevăr“(DA, meaning “Justice and Truth”) in order to save the European idea. The damage which was caused to the European idea by the corrupt pro-European politicians generated political reconsideration within Moldovan society. The polls organised in Moldova during the ongoing political crisis showed an evident drift of the society away from the EU and towards Russia. Thus, the pro-European corrupt forces strengthened the left-oriented, traditionally pro-Russian electorate in Moldova - to such an extent that it has the most chances to form a majority in the Parliament if early elections were organised.

Without any doubts, present Moldova consists of two antagonistic faces. As it was said above, one of this faces presents a Moldova belonging to the rising civil society, reformist in content and confident in its political demands. This is Moldova belonging to the people, to those who give the legitimacy to the state. In opposition to and continuously defying it, there is another type of Moldova, which belongs to the ruling political regime. In essence, this is a degraded Moldova in terms of politics, economics or justice, but the worst – in terms of morality.

This kind of oligarchic Moldova lost almost everything. Along with the chance to develop the country, it lost the people’s trust, legitimacy, and the political reality. This is why, through the multiple mass protests that the DA platform organised since the early September 2015[6]- people demand early elections, or, as it is the case now for Moldova – the salvation of the state from the oligarchic captivity.

Moldovan Democracy is at Stake

Currently, the Moldovan state is subordinated to Vladimir Plahotniuc. This oligarch has concentrated so much power and wealth in his hands that all the core institutions of the state execute his orders. The control over the Prosecution gave him an opportunity to eliminate from politics Vlad Filat who was found guilty for the EUR 1 billion robbery. The former prime-minister was involved in this diabolic scheme, as his name is mentioned in the American investigation carried by the American company Kroll[7], and he was arrested right in the Parliament building, during the session. This scenario was arranged by Plahotniuc, the real beneficiary of the theft, so that Filat had to pay for all, being the one to be sacrificed while the crowds were demanding for justice.

By opposing to Plahotniuc, Vlad Filat was ensuring a political balance in Moldova which did not allow any of them to have the total control of the political power. Unfortunately, the democratic establishment in Moldova was not based on the rule of law principle, but rather on the political vendettas of the oligarchs. Once Filat disappeared from the political scene, the Moldovan Parliament became the playing ground for Plahotniuc. By bribery, intimidations and threats with prosecution, Plahotniuc recruited some deputies from Filat’s PLDM (Liberal Democratic Party from Moldova), from Vladimir Voronin’s (former President of Moldova) Communists Party, and together with the Liberal Party formed a parliamentarian majority of 57 deputies having his own Democratic Party as the centre of gravitation.

In this obsession to become the new Moldova’s Prime-Minister, Plahotniuc transformed the Parliament into an illegitimate institution. When his party proposed him as a candidate for this position, Moldova was boiling in mass protests and according to the polls Plahotniuc was the country’s most hated politician.

The political soap opera in Moldova had an end which did not satisfy any of the two parts, neither the people nor Plahotniuc. Subordinating his decision to the demands of the protesting people, although pressed and threatened, the President Nicolae Timofti refused twice to appoint Plahotniuc as a candidate to Prime-Minister’s position. As the President argued, he did not nominate Plahotniuc because of the corruption suspicions[8]. However, the President was forced to appoint another candidate forwarded by the Democratic Party, in fact, the right hand of Plahotniuc. As the Constitutional Court of Moldova stated (another important institution controlled by Plahotniuc), the President has to appoint a candidate supported by the majority in the Parliament as Prime-Minister. Therefore, Pavel Filip, the former Minister of Technology, got the 57 votes in the Parliament (which was meanwhile seized by protesters) and his government was installed near the midnight of January 20. 

Continuing the false pro-EU propaganda, the mass-media controlled by Plahotniuc is building a good image of the new government while calling for the support of the people. There is no such support in Moldova right now. As one of the DA platform leaders Igor Boțan claims, “the current government is a junction of two irreconcilable parts of the Parliament aimed at saving of their own skin”[9].

Instead of listening to Plahotniuc – the national danger of Moldova, the citizens of this small country caught very well the message voiced by the American Vice-President Joe Biden, who is one of the most important recent visitors to Moldova along with Angela Merkel. Having as a reference the Maidan Revolution in Ukraine, during his visit to the neighbouring Romania in May 2014, Biden claimed that “corruption sucks from the power of the nation, it is a form of tyranny”. ’’That’s why’’, continued the Vice-President, “the fight against corruption is not only a question of good governance, it is patriotism”[10]. The people of Moldova are proving more and more this patriotism. They want their state back, and a government which would once again listen to their voices and establish a democracy based on the rule of law. The early could be the means for fulfilling these demands... 

What should the EU do regarding the current Crisis in Moldova?

The newly installed government in Moldova is an attribute of the same corrupt political class which brought the country to a collapse. Just by declaring itself pro-European, the Filip’s government is playing the card that it is the only guarantee of the pro-European vector taken by Moldova in 2009. “The early elections would throw Moldova on Moscow’s orbit by bringing into power pro-Russian forces” - claim the so called ’’pro-European’’ ruling politicians. On the other hand, Igor Boțan expresses his fear that “if so called pro-Europeans would stay in power for 3 more years, than Dodon and Usatâi [leaders of the most prominent pro-Russian parties in Moldova] would take the constitutional majority, they would change the Constitution and would federalize the country”[11].  

The first thing that Brussels should do is to leave aside the trap of geopolitics. Moldova will not go towards Russia as long as the will of the Moldovan people is to build an authentically European democracy based on the rule of law. Consequently, the EU has to immediately interrupt all the diplomatic and politic support for the new government, and to acknowledge that the trust and financial support it offered to the same political elite during the past years encouraged the rise of corruption in Moldova.  

Though it is uncomfortable after the Maidan events, the EU should side with the protesters. If it is harder to hear the echoed message from Chișinău, the EU can listen to the messages of the Moldovan Diaspora in Paris, Frankfurt or Dublin which protests in solidarity with the people from home.

Nolens volens, the result of the political crisis in Moldova will be early elections. The question is how early they would be. Obviously, the civil society wants them right now - in the worst case they will be unavoidable when the mandate of the President expires in April. For electing a new President, according to the Constitution of Moldova, there has to be no less than 67 votes in the Parliament. Hopefully, there are no more deputies to be bought by Plahotniuc in the current Parliament. The time of the prevailing political class in Moldova is over. The early elections would reset Moldova from political point of view and will preserve its fragile democracy, but they will not save the country from being a dispute of geopolitics. Anyways, Moldova’s foreseeable early elections would reflect a political battle between West and East.


[1] This expression has been used by some academic and political circles within the EU in reference to the spectacular progress which Moldova achieved in its European integration policy.

[2]http://adevarul.ro/moldova/politica/vlad-filat-integrare-europeana-1_51dd22aac7b855ff5621db4e/index.html

[3] http://jurnal.md/ro/import/2013/10/5/contractul-privind-concesionarea-aeroportului-dubios-1157684/

[4] http://www.actualitati.md/md/economie/tot-mai-multi-bani-trimisi-de-moldoveni-sunt-ruble-rusesti

[5] http://jurnal.md/ro/politic/2016/1/2/deutsche-welle-moldova-2015-cel-mai-negru-an/

[6] http://www.europalibera.org/archive/news/20160121/445/445.html?id=27500550

[7] http://www.realitatea.md/familia-filat-ar-fi-beneficiat-de-banii-furati-de-la-bem--vezi-legatura-dintre-firmele-lui-shor--indicate-in-raportul-kroll--si-caravita-co_20225.html

[8]http://www.zdg.md/stiri/stiri-politice/bomba-lui-timofti-l-a-refuzat-repetat-pe-plahotniuc-si-l-propune-pe-ion-paduraru

[9] http://unimedia.info/stiri/igor-botan-pentru-mine-este-interesant-cum-va-comemora-mihai-ghimpu-alaturi-de-artur-resetnicov-ziua-de-7-aprilie-108311.html

[10]http://www.info-sud-est.ro/vizita-lui-joe-biden-binecuvanteaza-romania-mesajul-apostolic-al-sua-pentru-poporul-roman-si-pilda-cazului-ucrainean/

[11]http://anticoruptie.md/ro/interviuri/igor-botan-daca-mai-raman-proeuropenii-trei-ani-dodon-si-usatii-iau-majoritate-constitutionala

Publicēts 05. februāris, 2016

Autors Mircea Raicu