PUTIN AND LUKASHENKO SHOULD SERVE AN EXAMPLE FOR DODON TO FOLLOW -- EXPERT

The Presidents of Belarus and Russia – Alexander Lukashenko and Vladimir Putin – should serve an example for Igor Dodon to follow, believes expert Ion Tabirta of the “Viitorul” [“Future”] Institute of Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS Viitorul).

Speaking at the debate on the current situation in Belarus, organized in Chisinau on Wednesday, the expert said that Dodon should learn from Lukashenko and Putin how the vertical of power should be built in a country.

“Igor Dodon has always emphasized his good relationship with Lukashenko, and that is why Dodon sent to Minsk his congratulation upon Lukashenko’s re-election for a new [6th] term of office”, said Tabirta.

At the same time, Ion Tabirta pointed out the sharp reaction to Belarus events shown by some Moldovan opposition pro-European parties.

“Both the Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) and DA Platform expressed support to the Belarus opposition forces, and the DA Platform even addressed to the European Union, having sent a letter to Ambassador Peter Michalko, the Head of the EU Delegation to Moldova. Such different positions are reflected also in the current discord aggravating between the power and opposition in this republic. At the same time, the Democratic Party of Moldova, the Party of Socialists’ partner in the governing coalition, has assumed a position between these two camps, bearing in mind that the Moldovan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration is headed by a Democrat [Oleg Tulea, whose Ministry has expressed solidarity with the Belarus people and voiced “concern about the violence” that started developing there after the election result announcement]”, said the expert.

Political scientist Victor Stepaniuc, an ex-MP and a former Deputy Prime Minister of Moldova, believes that President Dodon acted correctly by sending the congratulation to Lukashenko.

“The current developments in Belarus are exclusively a domestic affair of that sovereign republic. And it is just a shame that parties and non-governmental organizations from Europe’s poorest country start making various statements. Moldovans cannot teach the Belarus people anything. After the incomplete 3 decades of anarchy here, during which the country has had 26 Governments, people in Moldova rather want to have a more authoritarian form of governance. For a greater part of the Moldovan society, Alexander Lukashenko represents a good example of how to organize the State and combat against corruption. But the current crisis has disclosed also the drawbacks of his regime”, said Victor Stepaniuc.