Maia Sandu at Comrat – a moment of truth
Few of those present on the evening of Friday, September 2, at the dialogue of Sorin Ioniță, president of the Expert Forum from Bucharest, with the head of state, Maia Sandu, during Bookfest Chișinău, would have imagined that this came for a relaxed discussion about books, formative models, women in politics and much more, after a very tense visit, on the same day, to Comrat.
In a short time, the information and video sequences with the aggressive statements of the members of the People’s Assembly and the answers of the presint went “viral” on social networks and aroused many reactions.
Maia Sandu’s main messages at Comrat
Maia Sandu did not have a single meeting at Comrat. He first gave a speech at the local University. He sent messages of peace and good understanding, emphasized that division on ethnic or linguistic criteria must be avoided, that we have to build together a democratic and fair state with all citizens, he called for solidarity and cohesion in difficult times. He also referred to the legal status of the regions within the Republic of Moldova.
“No autonomy in the EU or Russia has such broad powers as the Gagauz-Yeri Autonomous Territorial Unit.”
Maia Sandu: “I want to talk to you about the conclusion of recognized international and world experts, including experts from Gagauzia itself. They came to the conclusion that no autonomy in the European Union has such broad powers as the Gagauz-Yeri autonomous territorial unit in Moldova. There are many autonomous entities in the European Union. Subjects of the Russian Federation, be it a republic, territory, autonomous region or district, do not have the same powers as Gagauz-Yeri.”
Accusations of local politicians
The meeting with the members of the People’s Assembly from Comrat followed, which turned out to be the scene of furious, humorous attacks from some of those present – “social deputies”, according to Vlad Kulminski, ex-deputy prime minister responsible for reintegration (with Transnistria), present in a meeting. Flanked by the president of the People’s Assembly from Comrat, Dmitri Konstantinov, and the mayor Irina Vlah, the president Maia Sandu was subjected to a rhetorical barrage that exceeded many decency limits.
All kinds of accusations were made against him: that he does nothing for the Gagauz people, that he wants to drag Moldova into war, that he broke relations with “our strategic partner Russia”, that he intends to hand over Moldova to the “Romanians”, that although it seems . sorry for the Ukrainians, they, the Gagauz deputies, are thinking about what they will do in the winter and criticized Maia Sandu for not going to Moscow to ask Putin for a lower gas price.
“You can’t ask me to support Russia’s war in Ukraine.”
From the answers given by Maia Sandu, we cannot tell the incendiary content of the discussions: “He could not ask me to support Russia’s war in Ukraine, she said. I will never support the destruction of another state and people. See what’s going on there. It’s terrible!”
“Moldovan language” from the Constitution and the language spoken by the president
Someone reproached Maia Sandu for not respecting the Constitution, where it says “Moldovan language”, not Romanian, for not respecting the Moldovan people. “I know better than you what language I speak, said the head of state. Just as you know that you speak Gagauz, I know that I speak Romanian”.
Maia Sandu is the first Moldovan president who openly affirms, without being surrounded, in a rather hostile environment, at Comrat, his Romanian ethnic and linguistic affiliation, and he even slapped the face, indirectly, to his interlocutors for not taking care of their mother tongue. , Gagauz, but they have the nerve to show the Moldavians how to call their own language.
It had to happen one day. Shocking? No way. It was normal and legal, except that, for a normal gesture in Moldova, you need courage. Moldovans must learn to say things by name if they want to be respected in their country and abroad.
Some analysts commented that the president’s visit to Comrat was not properly prepared. Possible. There is always room for improvement and I think some conclusions have already been drawn.
Gagauz autonomy is an uncomfortable place for any pro-European politician from Chisinau. No, apparently, also for Dodon who, according to someone present at the meeting with Maia Sandu, “went to Comrat twice a month”. Why was he walking? Because there he found a favorable environment for his pro-Russian visions.
The Gagauz always provided votes for the pro-Russian left in Moldova
After experiencing, like the Moldavians, the horrors of the Gulag, after enduring intensive Russification campaigns, the Gagauzians, unfortunately, were and remain at the mercy of duplicitous local elites.
The head of autonomy, Irina Vlah, a member of the government office of the Republic of Moldova, thanks Romanian and European officials for grants and investments, but does not stop displaying pro-Russian attitudes in domestic politics.
At the meeting on Friday, September 2, while the president Maia Sandu declared clearly that she would not support Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, Irina Vlah seemed in a big dilemma, probably thinking how to proceed with her electoral slogan: “New, host, us it is in our power to be with Russia!”
A dichotomy that can no longer last
At Comrat, Maia Sandu suffered the consequences of the hypocrisy and political games of her predecessors. Gagauz separatism, manifested in the referendums pro-Putin’s Customs Union, in autonomy, was encouraged not only by local politicians, but also by those from Chisinau, who did not care about bringing the Gagauz together with the national goals of Moldova, but only by their votes.
In a dialogue with the Gagauz people, they must bring to the fore the heritage, the common cultural values, great personalities, such as, for example, the writer Dionisie Tanasoglu – a patriot of both the Gagauz language and the Romanian culture -, who was also rector. of the University of Comrat.
A pro-European government needs viable partners in autonomy, if it finds them, they should not be “Trojan horses” of Russia, some “alternative” agencies of influence. The war in Ukraine will change a lot in this area, but it is necessary for Chisinau to do more, to develop mechanisms for correct information and to combat the Russian propaganda that keeps the Gauzi people in a kind of poisoned spell.
President Maia Sandu’s visit to Comrat was a moment of truth, beyond emotions and legitimate indignation.
The views expressed in this article are not necessarily the position of Radio Free Europe.