This October, the smallest state in the Black Sea region, Moldova, holds presidential elections. We invited the most popular independent blogger of this country, Veaceslav Valko, to discuss the elections and the prospects for Turkish-Moldovan relations.
Veaceslav, tell us about the political configuration that has developed in your country on the eve of the elections?
My country is in a very difficult situation today. I am to blame for this. As well as thousands of other citizens who voted for the current president, Maia Sandu, 4 years ago. She not only deceived our expectations by failing to fulfill her promises, she brought the country to the brink of disaster. Moldova’s external debt has increased several times during her presidency. The rise in prices for essential goods, medical services, and fuel is breaking all records. Trying to stay in power, Ms. Sandu has pursued a policy of repression: absolutely all opposition media outlets have been closed, dozens of criminal cases have been opened against politicians and public activists. That’s not all: Sandu’s regime is effectively depriving my country of sovereignty. The president herself is a Romanian citizen, which she proudly points at. The head of the central bank is also Romanian. Our official language, Moldovan, was renamed Romanian by Sandu’s party. She is trying to make us an appendage of Romania.
Valko began his career in politics back in 2012 with participation in the preparation of the referendum on Moldova’s accession to the Customs Union. As part of his political and social activities, he has repeatedly organized marches and protests. In 2021, he ran for the parliamentary elections in Moldova as an independent candidate.
Maybe the difficulties you are talking about are a consequence of the war in Ukraine? After all, the fighting is going on very close by, and the flow of refugees is certainly hitting the economy…
Most of the refugees do not stay in Moldova: our country is too poor to attract even Ukrainians. But the war in the neighboring country does have an impact on us. Under Sandu, we have become a logistics hub for Ukraine. Military cargo freely crosses our territory, Ukrainian soldiers and even police officers walk around Moldova as if it were their home. Sometimes they don’t even take off their uniforms, as happened six months ago in the city of Ungheni, in the north of the country. We even have Ukrainian special services with an unclear purpose: they either help our services or supervise them.
In your opinion, do such close relations between Ukraine and Moldova harm your country?
The loss of neutrality harms us. We cannot take sides in our neighbors’ conflicts. We must proceed from our national interests and benefit from our neutrality. Like Türkiye. By the way, as for Türkiye: Under Sandu, our interstate relations are practically not developing. There are no high-level visits, as there were before her presidency. The reason is simple – the incompetence of Ms. Sandu and her team.
Who, in your opinion, can challenge Maia Sandu today?
Of those candidates who have a real chance of winning, I can only name Irina Vlah. She is the former Bashkan of Gagauzia. A very strong woman, a patriot of her country. She is a supporter of Moldova’s neutrality and the equal development of relations with all countries. The main thing is that she is not removed from the elections, because removal from the elections has become the main weapon of the current regime.
And what is Maia Sandu’s rating now?
If we talk about real ratings, and not those drawn up by order of the ruling party, then Sandu has about 15-17% inside Moldova. These are mainly public sector employees, security officials and other not entirely independent people. They vote for her because they are afraid to be against the regime, afraid to lose their jobs. Sure, there are a number of city lunatics who sincerely support her. We say that such people have been struck by the “Sanduvirus”.
Thank you very much, Vyacheslav, for answering our questions!
This interview was previously published in Turkish here. Translation to English by UWI.