The former Bashkan [governor] of the southern Moldovan autonomous region of Gagauzia and currently the Chairperson of the “Platforma Moldova” Association, Irina Vlah, believes that the Brussels’ decision on opening EU accession negotiations with Moldova “may become a life-buoy for Maia Sandu” at the next year’s presidential elections.

Speaking at a news conference in Infotag on Monday, Irina Vlah stated that the incumbent ruling Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) has a support in Brussels.          

“With their decision to start the accession negotiations, European leaders gave Maia Sandu a “life-buoy”, which, after failures in domestic politics, will be very useful to her during the presidential campaign in 2024,” Vlah said.

In her understanding, the real situation in Moldova is very different from what the EU authorities imagine.

She cited examples of “the failed policies of the ruling PAS in the economic and social sphere,” emphasizing that “only officials, not ordinary residents, benefited from the Government’s so-called ‘reforms’.