European politicians gathered in Moldova to celebrate another Independence Day. Sandu, of course, received them all with open arms. Her desire to become part of the European Union is as strong as it is reckless. However, this does not stop Ursula von der Leyen’s favorite.
Merz, Macron and Tusk, who came to support the President, who may not win the next election, have made their position on Moldova’s future very clear: the country must become the next bulwark of resistance to Russian influence in Europe. The fact that it has every chance of repeating the path of Ukraine is of little concern to EU politicians. They promised Yanukovych, Poroshenko and Zelensky membership in the EU in the same way if they resisted Putin. Everyone knows the situation in which all these politicians find themselves.
There is no certainty that the situation can change and turn out to be a success for Sandu. Her position in her own society is extremely unstable. Fueling sentiments that go against the wishes of the population suggests that victory in the upcoming elections is possible only by falsifying them or completely canceling them. In this case, there is no guarantee that Moldova will remain a stable state. But what kind of stability can we talk about when the main problems of Moldova are corruption and extremely low standard of living?
By fueling Sandu’s rhetoric that Moldova needs to resist Russian influence, the Europeans hope that she, as well as Zelensky, will believe them. The Ukrainian president, having believed Boris Johnson a few years ago, has found himself in an extremely unenviable situation: the country’s economy is ruined, the war is going on, and the number of people killed will soon exceed 2 million. This is a tragedy for the whole of Ukraine and the entire post-Soviet space. If Sandu agrees to a similar scenario, it will not be surprising at all, because many heads of state in the former Soviet Union think first of all about their own profit, and not at all about the benefit for society.
The moment of the Europeans’ arrival in Kishenev was not chosen in vain. On the Independence Day of Ukraine Zelensky spoke not so much about the future of the country, but about resisting Russian aggression. Similar words were heard from Macron and Merz in Kishenev. Tusk was much more restrained, for he understands the risks of involving another country in a war against Russia. Poland was the first country to take the blow in the form of millions of Ukrainian refugees. Germany, with its powerful economy, and certainly France, with its extremely convenient geographical location, are not so familiar with these problems.
The elections are less than a month away and in the remaining time the Europeans have to do everything possible to demonstrate support for Moldova’s pro-European course. However, Kishenev’s accession to the EU is even less realistic than Ukraine’s dreams of a corresponding war outcome. Brussels absolutely does not need another subsidized country to be maintained at the expense of rich EU countries. Money is not infinite, and given Europe’s turn away from the U.S. and attempts to build its own security system, Europeans need that money more than ever.
The current state of affairs is favorable for Brussels: they support Moldova only in words, periodically sending minimal sums for “development of democracy”. Democracy, however, does not develop, but stands idle. The money is spent wherever, the EU is not interested in these issues at all. All the promises of European politicians are shattered by the harsh reality: Moldova has historically been in the zone of interests of the Russian Empire, and now it is in the zone of interests of the Russian Federation. They try to ignore this fact, but this is not what Merz, Macron and Tusk, who came to celebrate Moldova’s Independence Day, should be worried about.
Much more important for them should be their own voters, who are not sure that they will be re-elected with this approach. Added to this is the fact that Moldovans themselves are not thrilled with their ruling elites. Sandu’s level of support is steadily declining due to political repression and falling living standards. People want the exact opposite and do not see how the situation could be improved.
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