Moldova – A Model Democracy?

 By Henry Srebrnik, [Saint John, N.B.] Telegraph-Journal

I sensed something was strange when I recently read that Moldova was a shining example of democracy in Europe.

A report on the “Global State of Democracy” published by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) last November stated that, while corruption remains a key challenge, Moldova is now among the top 25 per cent of countries globally in areas such as social rights and equality or media integrity.

The findings from IDEA, an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Stockholm, were based on an analysis of 173 countries. Kevin Casas-Zamora, its secretary-general, highlighted Moldova specifically as a “bright spot” when it comes to democratic progress.

But this is nonsense on stilts. True, the victory of Maia Sandu’s Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) last July 21was interpreted as reflecting a widespread popular consensus against entrenched oligarchic networks. This followed upon Moldova’s pro-Kremlin president Igor Dodon losing his re-election bid to the pro-Western Sandu in 2020.

However, Transparency International, in a more realistic March 2022 “Overview of Corruption in Moldova,” suggested that “much remains to be done to overcome the legacy of state capture still visible in many organs of state.”

This little country of 2.6 million people, which gained independence when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, is wedged between Ukraine and Romania. Until 1940, most of what is Moldova today had been part of Romania.

On its eastern flank, though, one finds the pro-Russian breakaway de facto state of Transnistria, bordering Ukraine. It seceded from Moldova in 1992, supported by troops from Moscow. Roughly 60 per cent of its population is Russian speaking, and Russia has troops stationed there. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Feb. 21 revoked a 2012 decree that in part recognized Moldova’s sovereignty in resolving the future of the Transnistria region.

So Moldova is, in effect, on the front lines should the Ukraine war spill over that country’s borders. The European Union last May 4 pledged to increase military support to Moldova, worried about “provocations” by pro-Russian separatists in Transnistria.

“This year we plan to significantly increase our support to Moldova by providing its armed forces with additional military equipment,” European Council President Charles Michel told Moldovan President Sandu in Chisinau, the capital.

The war is certainly coming closer. Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, on Feb. 10 reported that two Russian missiles launched from the Black Sea had entered Moldovan airspace before hitting Ukraine.

That same day, the pro-Western PAS government collapsed with the resignation of Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita. Along with President Sandu, she had been pushing for accession into the EU -- the country was given candidate status last year. The government had been planning a series of reforms in line with EU accession to speed up the process.

She blamed “oligarchs financing protests and fanning discontent” against a backdrop of rising prices and falling purchasing power. “But what has been happening on the streets of Chisinau in recent weeks is a provocation that is being organized with the support of foreign services,” she stated.

“I took over the government with an anti-corruption, pro-development and pro-European mandate at a time when corruption schemes had captured all the institutions and the oligarchs felt untouchable,” Gavrilita said in her resignation statement. “We were immediately faced with energy blackmail, and those who did this hoped that we would give in.”

Last Oct. 26, the U.S. Treasury Department had imposed sanctions on nine individuals and 12 entities in Moldova, “for capturing and corrupting Moldova’s political and economic institutions” and “acting as instruments of Russia’s global influence campaign.”

Those sanctioned included Ilan Shor, chairman of the Sor Party, a populist political organization. Shor was previously arrested on money laundering and embezzlement charges related to the 2014 theft of one billion dollars from Moldovan banks.

He is accused of being a leading figure in the Kremlin’s efforts to subvert this former Soviet republic. Last autumn, anti-government demonstrations organized by him lasted for weeks, blaming it for a 400 per cent rise in gas prices and the resultant inflation, which now stands at 30 per cent.

Shor has denied ever receiving support from Moscow. “We are an absolutely independent party which defends only the position of Moldovan citizens,” he insisted. He blamed the Moldovan government’s pro-Western tilt for bringing the country close to what he called “economic collapse.”

President Sandu on Feb. 13 declared that Russia was seeking to violently oust her country’s leadership by people posing as anti-government protesters. Last year Moscow cut its supply of gas to Moldova by half and energy bills now consume more than 70 per cent of household income.

Moldovans have endured blackouts throughout the winter. The United States is providing $30 million in direct budgetary support, and President Joe Biden asked Sandu to attend a NATO meeting on Feb. 21. “I am proud to stand with you and the freedom-loving Moldovan people,” he told her.

Moldova’s parliament has now approved the formation of a new government led by Dorin Recean, who promised to continue the policy of planned integration into the EU. “Russia is an aggressor state,” Rosian Vasiloi, head of Moldova’s border police, remarked.

But on Feb. 19 thousands of protesters travelled to Chisinau by bus, with their costs reportedly covered by the Sor party. The country remains politically on edge.