PRESIDENT DODON MAINTAINS MOLDOVA MAY BECOME A SECOND SWITZERLAND

Moldovan President Igor Dodon gave an interview to the portal www.flux.md, in which he maintains that if Moldova comes to a social consensus, it may become a second Switzerland.

“Small countries are all the time under threat. Big players are always trying to press them down. This often happened to many countries. Once the authorities of small countries got tempted by some attractive preferences, including economic, proposed by strong political forces, they sacrifice a whole nation and we become hostages of pro-Western or pro-Eastern policy”, Dodon said.

According to him, it is very difficult to keep the balance, and Moldova failed to keep this balance at different stages.

“Recently, the desire to please Europeans or Americans has again become stronger. For us this is very dangerous. Moldova can survive only if it has good relations both with the East and the West. Is it possible or not in the context of globalism? Well, it is difficult, but possible, I think”, the President stated.

He maintains that for ensuring of such a status, authorities’ political will and the desire of the society inside the country are necessary besides the initial intention.

“Here we have problems: the society is divided – a part of people adheres to the West, others – to the East. When we understand that we have to be not pro-somebody, but pro-Moldova, this will be the first step. The second important step is the consensus between geopolitical forces, similar to the step, made when the Switzerland was formed as a neutral state between quite strong empires in those days: Germany, France, Italy… Moldova has a chance to become a second Switzerland if we first of all come to a national, social consensus in these terms inside the country”, Dodon stressed.

The second important moment is, according to him, that external forces have to renounce attempts to bend us in their will.

“Neither the EU should press us nor Russia should pull us in its direction, because in such situation, such a small country as Moldova will be torn in pieces. This happened in case of Ukraine. A great mistake of geopolitical forces was to go according to the principle “with us or against us”. For such countries as Moldova, Ukraine and a number of others, such an approach from the side of partners and geopolitical players is unacceptable, as in case you press too much, the consequences are well-known. You can see what is happening with Ukraine. Similar risks exist for Moldova as well”, the president said.

According to him, he discussed this both with representatives of the West and the East.

“I have more than once talked with Mr. Putin, European officials from Brussels, Ms. Mogherini last year and this approach increasingly often finds understanding among our external partners. Our strategic goal should be that in the current agenda, Moldova to appear before these large forces as a place, where regional geopolitical compromise may be achieved. I believe that the need of a regional compromise is obvious and will get clearer as time goes by”, Dodon said.

He expressed confidence that after presidential elections in Russia, the Russian Federation and the USA will find common grounds in this region.

“I am optimistic about what will happen after all the electoral processes this year in Moldova, in Russia, in the US with their intermediary elections to the Congress. I hope that after everything calms down, the 2019 will become a year of compromise, while Moldova will be included in the agenda of the predominate powers. Lately, we were not mentioned in their agenda, at least not on the first page”, Dodon concluded.