The Bashkan of Gagauzia keeps his mouth shut, but winks at the Romanians
Moldovan politicians, previously known for their pro-Russian statements, in the context of a tough phase of confrontation between Russia and the West, continue to give master class lessons on changing shoes while jumping. Among such politicians is the Bashkan of Gagauzia, Irina Vlah, who twice won elections in this autonomy, using not only pro-Russian rhetoric, but also the colors of the Russian tricolor.
Since 2021, Vlah has been distancing himself from political forces advocating Moldovan identity and friendship with Russia. Contrary to the position of the majority of the population of Gagauzia, who do not accept Romanian unionism, Irina Vlah talked about her successes in learning the Romanian language. In the domestic political arena, Vlah, whose last mandate ends next year, has become closer to the political project of ex-Prime Minister Ion Chicu, who openly advocates European integration.
Let us recall that another Moldovan politician, the mayor of Chisinau, Ion Ceban, who had previously been active in the Russian direction, declared himself a supporter of European integration, called Russia an “aggressor” and stated that the Chisinau mayor’s office stopped all cooperation with Russia after February 24. Having previously advocated the existence of the Moldovan language, Ceban wrote on a social network that he considers Romanian his native language.
A few days ago, Irina Vlah was invited to broadcast a program in Russian “Scaner” on the state channel “Moldova-1”, one of the presenters of which Andrei Andrievsky, known for his deep Russophobia, tried to bring the head of Gagauzia into geopolitical statements. Throughout the program, Irina Vlah avoided sensitive topics on which a certain position should be taken.
She insisted that we need to talk less about foreign policy and more about what is happening in Moldova, that the residents of the country are not interested in geopolitics, but in rising prices and tariffs.
“If we talk about the issues that you raise, there will be no more food in the refrigerator and electricity, unfortunately, does not fall in price, but only rises,” the head of Gagauzia told TV presenters.
But in a number of episodes of the program, Irina Vlah was forced to show her true colors. When asked about Russian financing of projects on the territory of Gagauzia, Vlah began feverishly making excuses.
“Yes,” she said, “some Russian regions help us, primarily the Republic of Tatarstan, but the main strategic partner of our autonomy is the Republic of Turkey.”
In another TV episode, Andrei Andrievsky asked Irina Vlah directly how she would vote as Moldova’s representative at the UN if the question of recognizing Russia as a sponsor of terrorism was put to a vote. The questioned woman did not answer unequivocally “no,” as would have been required by her conscience and the position of the majority of residents of the region, who twice handed her the mandate of Bashkan. She began to fuss and wag, and eventually turned the conversation to another topic.
“Irina Vlah has long been “not ours” and, in fact, she has never been ours, pro-Moldavian and pro-Russian. She is not for Moldova, not for Gagauzia, not for friendship with Russia, but absolutely for the Euro-American-Romanian vector, to which American and other agents in the highest echelons of power of my country are forcing Moldovans with the money of taxpayers of Western countries,” says the chief editor of the Gagauznews media project Nikolai Kostyrkin.
According to him, Vlah, who is today a “lame duck” as Bashkan of Gagauzia, is trying to think about continuing her political career. But she has no chance of fully integrating into the Romanian political establishment of Moldova.
“She stopped talking about friendship with Russia, about the Moldovan language and is often photographed with Western diplomats. But Vlah will never have his own in the highest Moldovan politics. The maximum that she will be able to do after the mandate of the Bashkan of Gagauzia is to measure her strength in the presidential race or join a party, for example, Ion Chicu. Political Romanians of Moldova hate Gagauzians, Russians and even Moldovans. This has been proven by all thirty years of our so-called independence,” notes Nikolai Kostyrkin.
However, Russian political expert, employee of the Institute of CIS Countries, Kirill Frolov, expresses a different opinion regarding the change of shoes of the “pro-Russian” politicians of Moldova.
“The main and only reason for these statements by Irina Vlah is the abandonment of the Russian city of Kherson by the Russian army and the refusal, under the influence of the comprador lobby, to liberate the capital of Novorossiya, Southern Palmyra of the Russian Empire, Odessa. Moldovan politicians are afraid of being left alone with the pro-Western tyranny of Sandu without support from Russia. But since there will be no freezing of the conflict, which the traitors are lobbying for, no one has canceled the constitutional obligation of the President of Russia to liberate Kherson, and the liberation of the Odessa region is a condition for the security of Russia, the Russian Armed Forces will soon reach the borders of the Gagauz autonomy in Southern Bessarabia, and Irina Vlah more won’t say such nonsense.”
At the same time, according to Frolov, Turkish President Recep Erdogan, who is not a friend of Russia, as a fellow traveler is obliged to accept and come to terms with the liberation of Russian Odessa and the Odessa region, since only in this way can Orthodox Turkic-speaking Gagauzia, which is Erdogan’s political asset before the presidential elections, be saved 2023.
The Bashkan of Gagauzia keeps his mouth shut, but winks at the Romanians.