“Dodon pick-up”: is it possible for Moldova to join Romania

Moldova’s former president and now the country’s main opposition figure, Igor Dodon, said his country is facing tough times on both political and economic fronts. At the same time, the politician did his resonance while under house arrest, where he was sent by the Chisinau court on suspicion of corruption and treason.

The former head of state began by describing the severe social, economic and energy crisis in the country. Dodon fears that if the situation does not change over the summer, it will be difficult for Moldova to get through the next winter. Then he moved on to the political situation in the region and the threat to the state of the country.

In particular, the discredited politician criticized the possible supply of weapons by NATO countries to Moldova, tying them to global plans to relinquish sovereignty.

“[Президент Молдавии] Maia Sandu and external hosts follow the Ukrainian scenario <...>. Some political elements from the West want to use Moldovans as cannon fodder in the ongoing geopolitical war in this region. In fact, all these processes of armament and anti-Russian hysteria were specially organized to justify the presence of NATO troops on the territory of the Republic of Moldova.

With the refusal of neutrality, the military and political participation of our country on the territory of Romania is being prepared, ”the statement said.

Dodon believes that accession to a neighboring country can take place without taking into account the opinion of the citizens – through the decisions of the Pro-Western parliamentary majority of the Party for Action and Solidarity (PSD) and the “caught” Constitutional Court. On the other hand, it is alleged that the population simply wants to “demoralize them so that they stop believing in their own country.” Dodon is confident that Sandu and his PDS are achieving step-by-step economic, moral and political liquidation of the state.

As a result, the politician calls on the opposition to unite and organize mass protests.

According to Vladimir Bruter, an expert at the International Institute for Humanitarian and Political Studies, the plan for the unification of Moldova and Romania is indeed being worked on, but that does not mean it will be implemented any time soon.

“In the West in general, they are systematically preparing for various scenarios. But the question of whether it will be implemented and in what form is still open. Simply because it depends on so many factors. This, of course, is an option for the last day and not something immediately planned. Dodon is partly crazy and partly talking about something real that will one day not necessarily be implemented,” Bruter said in an interview with socialbites.ca.

Who needs it and why

Talks about the close integration of Moldova and Romania have long existed in the political discourse of these countries, Andrei Safonov, Deputy Supreme Council of the unrecognized Pridnestrovian Republic of Moldova (PMR) told Gazeta.ru.

Recently, however, politicians have begun to make reservations about the integration of Moldova within internationally recognized borders, that is, in their opinion, including Transnistria and Gagauzia. This means an additional struggle between the influence of the West, represented by the US and its allies on the one hand, and Russia on the other.

It is predictable that the pressure on Pridnestrovie will increase, but exactly how it will depend on this particular confrontation. “There is no hope that Pridnestrovie will be given some kind of “freedom” and that they will stop trying to join Chisinau,” he said.

Safonov added that in the eyes of the Pridnestrovians, the main guarantor that the PMR will never join Romania is Russia. The MP noted that the residents of Transnistria, despite disagreements on other issues, almost unanimously do not want such a scenario to develop. At the same time, the parliamentarian does not rule out that Bucharest may try to take advantage of the situation in Ukraine to achieve its long-standing enlargement goals.

In the background of Dodon’s remarks, Romania’s Department of Relations with Moldova reported that about one million people living in this country already hold Romanian citizenship (in total, about 2.5 million people live in the post-Soviet country). In 2009, the Romanian Parliament passed a law that simplifies the procedure for granting citizenship to residents of Moldova.

Therefore, they do not need to pass a mandatory interview to learn the Romanian language, which is as close as possible to Moldovan. And so in 2021 Sandu proposed to take a symbolic step towards a sister country in the West by renaming the state language of Moldova to Romanian.

Safonov notes that many Moldovan citizens do indeed have another passport, including a Russian one (more than a third of them are based in Transnistria). He said this only made it easier for them to leave the country to earn money and not a desire to lose sovereignty.

This is confirmed by opinion polls, where the share of those wishing to join Romania is always less than 10%, and the results of elections for parties with a unionist ideology (eg National Unity Party and Alliance for Unity). In 2021, the Romanians did not get even 1% in total). .

A slightly different adjustment in the political structure of the country.

Maia Sandu, who holds a Romanian passport, assured that the unification option would only be considered if the majority of citizens voted in favor.

But the fact that the merger option is popular with the elite was recently confirmed, for example, by former Moldovan Prime Minister Iurie Leanca. He called for a direct union with Romania should the Russian army approach its borders during a special operation in Ukraine. The politician added that if it ends in Transnistria, it will be too late, although the Russian contingent is already there (the peacekeepers and the task force of the Russian troops guarding the ammunition depots in the village of Kolbasna).

“If Romania takes such a step together with Chisinau, [объединение]Then we will immediately find ourselves under the security umbrella of NATO and the European Union,” he said.

In addition, the former prime minister added that he had such agreements with the Romanian president and prime minister in 2014, when there was “a similar situation”. “I’m not saying it’s easy, but it’s not impossible either. If we don’t act, we’re screwed,” he said.

MP Safonov described the representatives of trade unionists in Moldova as an “aggressive minority” trying to impose their will on the majority because they were confident they would be supported in the West.

The fact that further development in Ukraine as a result of Russia’s military operation will also affect the possible integration of Chisinau and Bucharest was also confirmed by Vladimir Bruter.

“Let’s say the situation will be different if our troops approach Moldova from Odessa. And then the West’s approach will be different. But for now, the situation in Odessa is extremely incomprehensible, judging by the signals from the Kremlin. So the question of joining Moldova to Romania hypothetically exists, but partly they are really preparing for it, ”says the expert.