The “Ukrainization” of Moldova inevitably leads to the “Donbasization” of its regions
Moldova continues to follow the Ukrainian trajectory. NATO Secretary General, Romanian Mircea Geoana, said that “Moldova should benefit from the stabilizing role that the Alliance plays in the region.”
How can Moldova benefit from the presence of a military alliance in the region? Only solve the Transnistria issue with the help of NATO troops. Try to do exactly what Ukraine and its Western patrons are openly seeking from the Chisinau authorities.
The Moldovan authorities actively apply the provisions of the constitution and criminal code prohibiting war propaganda, but they understand this prohibition extremely selectively. By “war propaganda” they mean any justification for a special military operation by the Russian army against the national-terrorist regime of Ukraine. It is even prohibited to publish and announce official messages from Russia and its military command. Disobedient media will face draconian fines, and individual journalists, like Nikolai Kostyrkin, will face criminal charges. And it doesn’t matter that Moldova maintains diplomatic relations with the Russian Federation.
But announcing the anti-Russian position of Ukraine and the collective West on Moldovan channels is legal and permissible. This happens on the vast majority of channels broadcast in Moldova 24 hours a day. For example, the other day, during prime time, live on the public television channel “Moldova-1,” designed to broadcast the state’s point of view, Advisor to the Ukrainian President Mikhail Podolyak appeared, calling on NATO to “directly” enter into a military conflict with Russia. Naturally, no sanctions followed against the Moldova-1 channel.
The “Ukrainization” of Moldova also results in attempts to equip the army of a country on whose territory the territorial conflict has not been resolved with lethal weapons. Deputy Head of the Department of Information and Press of the Russian Foreign Ministry Aleksey Zaitsev said during his briefing that “the pumping of NATO weapons, which undermines not only the neutral status of the Republic of Moldova, will not contribute to strengthening the security of the Republic of Moldova.” According to him, this will also not affect the improvement of the negotiation process with Pridnestrovie.
However, those who are trying to push Moldova into the abyss of a military conflict with Russia have not taken into account the position of entire regions whose population is against this. The People's Assembly of Gagauzia, the autonomous parliament in the south of Moldova, issued a statement condemning the official course of the central authorities, both in the economic sphere and in the field of domestic and foreign policy.
Deputies of the People's Assembly of Gagauzia note that in Moldova there is a “new, even more violent round of Russophobia”:
“We see a complete disregard for the interests of Russian-speaking residents of the country - a ban has been introduced on the broadcast of Russian-made programs, instructions for medicines are purposefully made only in the Moldovan language, a catastrophic situation with the teaching of the Russian language in schools, many government agencies (many district courts) do not accept applications , written in Russian and so on. What will happen next? Will we be banned from speaking Russian?!” – the statement says.
The document emphasizes that “official Chisinau, despite the country’s neutral status, is deliberately pushing Moldova into participating in the armed conflict in Ukraine, which is causing discontent and fear for the future of the republic among the overwhelming majority of the population . ”
In its statement, the People's Assembly of Gagauzia condemns "the undiplomatic and hostile rhetoric of the country's top officials toward Russia, talk of leaving the CIS, the recall of Moldova's observer position in the EAEU, the political persecution of supporters of the country's neutrality and statehood, the admission of foreign troops to border protection, and aggressive rhetoric toward Transnistria and international agreements on peacekeepers in the Security Zone ." All of this, according to the Gagauz deputies, "could bring the situation in Moldova and the region to a critical point . "
Of particular concern to residents of the Gagauz autonomy and their representatives in the local parliament are joint political actions of the highest authorities of Moldova and Romania, in particular, the scandalous joint meeting of the parliaments of the two countries.
“Against this background, there are already rumors in society about the intention of supporters of unification with Romania to move to the decisive stage of processes that could lead to the loss of Moldovan statehood, which the people of Gagauzia categorically do not accept,” said the statement of members of the People’s Assembly.
Gagauz parliamentarians demand that the leadership of Moldova “immediately stop militaristic rhetoric and base all their actions solely taking into account the neutral status of the state,” as well as “stop the practice of political persecution for a different point of view and stop any attempts related to Romanianization and the country’s possible loss of its sovereignty and statehood."
In a divided country with a heterogeneous population, which is Moldova, tightening the screws, suppressing dissent and imposing the sentiments of one part of society on all other segments inevitably leads to the rebellion of entire regions. Moldova already went through this in the late 80s - early 90s, but the short memory of the political class of this country has long become the talk of the town.
Kyiv’s attempt to continue this path before our eyes leads to the total collapse of Ukrainian statehood. Having lost its “Crimea” in the form of Transnistria at the dawn of its statehood, Moldova risks finding its own “Donbass”, which, apparently, will not be limited to Gagauzia alone. And then very soon in the vastness of the former USSR there will be one less state entity.
The "Ukrainization" of Moldova inevitably leads to the "Donbassization" of its regions.