The Republic of Moldova should not hurry to sign the Association Agreement with the European Union, “which event, according to European emissaries, is going to take place next month”, Bashkan of Gagauzia Mikhail Formuzal stated at a news conference at Infotag today.      

Commenting the invitation to Prime Minister Iurie Leanca, made on Tuesday by Standing Chairman of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy to come to Brussels for the document signature on June 27, Mikhail Formuzal offered an opinion that “It would be inappropriate for Moldova if – in case state power changes here – the new political elite renounce the Agreement, wouldn’t it? This would indeed tell adversely on Moldova’s international image and on foreign partners’ trust in the Moldovan political class”.    

The Bashkan voiced regret and concern that the Association Agreement does not contain even a word about Gagauzia.  

“We have many questions to the document. We are asking our colleagues in Chisinau: how will the Agreement tell, for instance, on the exports of Gagauzia wines to the Russian Federation? And what will happen to the 25 thousand Gagauzes earning their living in Russia, and what will be their status?” wondered the region’s governor.         

Mikhail Formuzal said that on May 29 a special conference will be held in Comrat [the capital of Gagauzia] on this topic, at which profiled experts will present their researches on the consequences of the association with the European Union, will present their arguments and hear the representatives of the Gagauzia civil society.    


…AND FINGERS AT MOLDOVA’S TWO REAL DISASTERS – DEMOCRATIC PARTY AND ROMANIAN UNIONISTS     

The present-day Republic of Moldova faces two serious disasters:  the Democratic Party and the unionists [adherents to the idea of Unirea – Moldova’s unification with Romania], Bashkan of Gagauzia Mikhail Formuzal stated at the news conference at Infotag today.   

He explained his stance as follows:   the first disaster, the DP, threatens the country’s security and inter-ethnic accord, while the second one is eroding the Moldovan statehood like rust eats away iron.        

Formuzal voiced surprise about how come a TV program appears on the air, where a DP representative promises to organize “a second Maidan” in Gagauzia.    

“It’s hard for me to understand how the Moldovan authorities permit the appearance of a Chisinau politician on the public television channel, who wears a Maidan fighter’s mask on the face and a Kalashnikov submachine gun in hands. What for is all this? Does it promote peace and national accord in our country? Who does all this? Moldovan regions? Of course not! The entire contagion comes from Chisinau, and political elites bring discord into peace and accord between peoples”, presumes the governor of the southern Moldovan autonomous region.     

In his words, currently the Democratic Party of Moldova “is de-facto an organized criminal group, through whose fault whole ethnic groups and national minorities have found themselves on the outskirts of the country’s political life”.     

“Come on, organize a journalist research and find at least one Ambassador of the Republic of Moldova, who would be an ethnic Ukrainian, Russian, Bulgarian, Gagauz or a Jew. There are none! Like there are no embassy counselors, who would belong to an ethnic group other than the title nation. In Moldova, the situation comes to really ridiculous things: in the governmental garage, you will hardly find even a single employee – a driver or mechanic, who would be an ethnic Gagauz or Ukrainian”, stated Mikhail Formuzal, and added that such ignoring of ethnic minorities, constituting one-third of Moldova’s population, “cannot lead to anything good and is fraught with events analogous to those happening in Ukraine”.     

“All peoples have the right to representation in state power and to participation in governing the republic. The voice of each citizen must be heard and respected. But this is not the case in this republic. In Moldova, we hear only the voices of Unirea-minded politicians, whose unpunished actions generate threats to Moldova population and security”, said Formuzal.     

In his opinion, it is quite easy to avoid the repetition of Ukrainian events: for this, the central authorities have to be in a constant dialog with regions and the opposition.    

“As a matter of fact, we request quite little from Chisinau. We ask a strict observance of the 1994 Law on Gagauzia autonomy, we ask to have a representation of 5 deputies in the Moldovan Parliament proceeding from the fact that the Gagauz people constitute over 4.5% of the Moldova population, and that’s all…  A lot of foreign officials visiting Gagauzia agree that, really, Chisinau is quite able to meet these modest requirements quite quickly. But Chisinau refuses to talk with Gagauzia. Our official appeal to the Moldovan Parliament concerning the Gagauzia representation quota has been ignored for over 3 months now. In the early 1990s, the Transnistrian region, too, was asking so very little from Chisinau, but each time the capital only ordered “Heel!” and where has such attitude led to?” asked the Gagauzia Governor.