The head of Gagauzia asked the President of the Republic of Moldova to establish a dialogue with the leadership of the autonomous regions.
The Baskan (head) of the Gagauz autonomy of Moldova, Irina Vlakh, asked the President of the Republic, Maia Sandu, to overcome personal antipathy and establish a constructive dialogue, she wrote on her Facebook page.
Maia Sandu recently visited Gagauzia, an autonomous region, part of the Republic of Moldova. Photo: The Truth Archive
“The president was never able to overcome personal animosities and proved unprepared to build a dialogue.“, Vlah wrote after Sandu’s visit to the autonomous region today. “The lack of dialogue is not only an unnecessary barrier between Chisinau and Comrat, but also the wrong tactic of the ruling party <...> when Maia Sandu avoids meeting with Irina Vlah – she avoids meeting not with me personally, but with the popularly elected head of the autonomous region“.
This is Maia Sandu’s second visit to the autonomous region after she was elected president in 2020. Today she came to meet with deputies from the local parliament, as well as to talk with students of Comrat State University. The local legislators invited Vlah to the meeting, who, together with the speaker of the local parliament, Dmitri Konstantinov, welcomed Sandu with a bouquet of flowers in front of the Executive Committee building. Being in an awkward situation, the president refers to the mistake of the department and the protocol, which must, he forgot to send an invitation to the head of Gagauzia.
The meeting with the president took place behind closed doors, the head of Gagauzia was unhappy with it. “She did not give an answer to a single question that worries the local authorities and every family in the Republic of Moldova“, Vlah wrote. According to the head of the autonomy, the frequent visits of the president and the prime minister to the region are due to the upcoming local elections next year, as well as the desire for a moderate state of protest in the autonomy.
Vlah assured that the inhabitants of Gagauzia are for the integrity, independence and sovereignty of the Republic of Moldova. “At the same time, we cannot silently observe the adoption of political decisions in Chisinau, which led to a three-fold increase in natural gas tariffs, a catastrophic level of inflation and a decrease in the purchasing power of our citizens. In a democratic society, no one can deprive citizens of the right to protest“, she mentioned.
Anti-government protests
Last summer, in Gagauzia, as well as in the rest of Moldova, protests began; the participants demand the resignation of the government, accusing it of not being able to deal with the crisis in the country. The authorities are criticized for their refusal to negotiate better gas prices with Russia, as well as for political pressure on opposition representatives. For his part, Sandu announced attempts to destabilize the situation in Gagauzia, where, according to them, they support Russia in the issue of the war in Ukraine.
In this context, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Moldova conducted special forces exercises in Comrat last week, which caused outrage among the leaders of the autonomy. Previously, Vlah did not rule out that she could be arrested, just like former president Igor Dodon and a number of other opponents.