Moldova: New Saviours from Previous Governments

“On the Barricades” s06e46

On today’s release of “On the Barricades”, host Maria Cernat invites Vitalie Sprînceană on to discuss a local perspective on the current crisis and events in Moldovan politics. Vitalie is a committed activist and founder of the media platform platzforma.md, located in Chișinău, Moldova.

Moldova was placed on the map for the international audience due to its tense geopolitical context and the war in Ukraine– especially in relation to Transnistria, which is a piece of land on the Ukraine border that’s declared autonomous from Moldova without international recognition, its population composed mainly of former soldiers in the USSR army living there since 1989. Vitalie explains the history with respect to Transnistria and the risk of its calling for “liberation” by Russia were they to capture nearby Odessa. And what is the current mood surrounding Moldova’s involvement in the war? The country initially took the stance of neutrality, but now not so much, under various changing pressures.

While Moldova has a Western-praised President Maia Sandu at its head, the likewise pro-Western technocrat-brand Prime Minster, Natalia Gavrilita, unexpectedly resigned from power in February, to be replaced by Dorin Recean. Recean is just as right-wing and involved in several scandals. The news has recently heard the name of opponent and pro-Russian oligarch Ilan Shor, who had ties to a demonstration which was said by Pres. Sandu to be a coup-attempt. Around the same time, one billion euros was stolen from the state by politicians and financial elites– an amount that would set such a small country back a decade.

Vitalie delivers a breakdown of is driving this huge recent turmoil, what is the context, and where could it lead for Moldova?