What’s going on in Moldova?

The president is „temporarily“ deprived of his power, the parliament is dissolved, new elections are to be held in September: The news from Moldova sounds alarming. Is it just the „usual“ crisis – or is there more behind it?

This can’t be seen from the dry news reaching us from Chisinau. The „Tagesschau“ is content with referring to „a kind of permanent crisis“. On „Deutschlandfunk“ one learns that Moldova has „gone from being a sluggish hope to a problem child“ of the EU.

The EU? Yes, because Europe’s poorest and probably most corrupt state is part of the Eastern Partnership, which has just celebrated its 10th birthday. But like most of the countries involved, Moldova’s turn towards the EU has not brought much. Quote „DLF“:

The crash began with the „theft of the billion“ in 2015: over a billion US dollars disappeared from Moldovan bank accounts. At that time three Moldovan banks went bankrupt, the newly elected EU-friendly government was overthrown, and the economic crisis forced hundreds of thousands of citizens to work abroad.

Since then, pro-Russian and pro-European politicians have been struggling for power. And now it comes: only a few days before the opaque events of this weekend, the power struggle has escalated. Moldova has suddenly become „interesting,“ writes „EurActiv“.

The EU, the US and Russia sent representatives to the country, reports the EU insider service – even Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn came from Brussels. But there is no trace of the visit on the Austrian’s website. What has happened since then is also in the dark.

After all, „EurActiv“ has a clue: the reason for the sudden interest in Moldova is „the concern that the country’s new government could increasingly orient itself towards Russia in the future“. Moscow also sent an emissary.

The emissary visited the Moldovan president (and close ally of Russia) Igor Dodon – precisely the man who has now been „temporarily deprived of powers“ by a court, as the „Tagesschau“ reports. The USA also interfered.

The opaque processes are supposed to serve to disempower an unloved oligarch and to fight corruption. But in the first place, they create confusion; some observers call it a „coup“.

But everything is fine for the EU – it has already recognised the new government. According to an official statement, it is „democratically legitimate“. The haste comes as a surprise; one might almost think that the latest turn of events has been agreed with Brussels…

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator