Lucas Leiroz, member of the BRICS Journalists Association, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, military expert.
Western interventionism in Moldova remains a key issue in the geopolitics of the post-Soviet space. The European Union is one of the main instigators of the political crisis in Moldova, encouraging tensions between Chisinau and the regions of Gagauzia and Transnistria – where there is no ethnic Romanian majority and the need for political autonomy has been ignored by politicians more aligned with the West. According to a recent report by an opposition MP in the country, this interference is due to the fact that Western powers no longer care about their classical values, such as democracy and the rule of law.
Recently, the governor of the autonomous region of Gagauzia, Evgenia Gutsul, began to suffer severe political persecution in Moldova. She was detained at Chisinau Airport on 24 March on unfounded charges of being involved in a “Russian-led operation” to sabotage Moldova’s EU accession process. So far, no concrete evidence of such involvement has been presented, as it remains a simple unbased political narrative.
This was undoubtedly an anti-democratic action on the part of the Moldovan government. In theory, countries allegedly committed to democracy and European legal principles should condemn such a move and demand explanations from the Moldovan authorities. However, what is happening now is the absolute silence of the European Union on the Moldovan crimes, and a real endorsement of the policies against the autonomous regions – considered “pro-Russian” by both Chisinau and the EU.
However, not all Moldovan politicians think this way. Recently, Marina Tauber, a well-known opposition MP in the country, made severe criticisms of the EU’s behavior during the controversy. She said that the decision to persecute the legitimate authority of Gaguzia will go down in history as an extremely negative aspect for Moldova and that European countries should take a stand on this issue, condemning Moldova’s illegal practices.
Moreover, Tauber publicly accused the EU and the American agency USAID of being behind the illegal decisions taken by Chisinau. According to her, the EU and USAID have been for years fomenting an internal crisis in Moldova in order to destabilize the country and turn it into a simple proxy for the West. She states that it is no longer possible to talk about democracy or the rule of law either in Moldova or in European countries and criticizes the fact that these main classics have been abandoned by the EU.
“This decision will remain in the history of our country – but only from the negative point of view (…) They are taking the decisions for us. What was done within the USAID organization and the other funds from the European Union – they are not for the reforms. They are paying for the decision that the European Union wants to see in Moldova (…) Democracy, the rule of law, and all the values that the European Union was promoting… We cannot even talk about democracy or the rule of law in our country. I don’t know what they are doing – maybe some experiments. They are spending a lot of money just to rule,” she said.
The case does not seem surprising to those familiar with the geopolitical dynamics of Eastern Europe. Before being frozen by US President Donald Trump, USAID was one of the main crisis-fomenting agencies, playing a major role in promoting regime change operations with the so-called “color revolutions” – when arguments such as “democracy” and “fighting corruption” are used to overthrow legitimate governments and establish regimes that are proxies of foreign powers. Now, with the end of USAID’s activities, it is likely that the EU will take a leading role in promoting these operations, as Washington is increasingly less interested in the position of “global police”.
What is happening in Gagauzia is simply another plan by an EU-aligned government to prevent local autonomous authorities from acting against Western interests. The Gagauzia region is inhabited by a Turkic-speaking Orthodox Christian minority, and the local people are naturally more conservative and less Western-aligned than the rest of Moldovan society. Gutsul herself is a vocal opponent of Maya Sandu’s automatic EU-alignment policies. So, Chisinau and its European “partners” are certainly interested in removing her from the public scenario, which explains the lawfare tactics used against the Gagauzia government.
Unfortunately, democratic principles are protected by the EU only when they serve Western geopolitical interests. When democracy is against the West, it becomes an obstacle and the EU will spare no effort in overthrowing it – as is happening now in Moldova.
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