During the eight years of presence in the Eastern Partnership (EaP), the Moldovan political class has grown older and has become more diversified. The extraparliamentary opposition became more powerful than the parliamentary one, while civil society more credible at home and in Brussels than the pro-European governments, political pundit Dionis Cenusa says in an analysis article for IPN Agency.

According to the expert, the Eastern Partnership, more exactly the Association Agreement with the EU that took effect in Moldova in July 2016, created a sufficiently resistant legal and political framework for accelerating the disclosure of cases of corruption, noted the politologist.

Gradually, it became clear that the country is governed by oligarchic groups that, bypassing the principle of separation of powers in the state, suspended a large part of the autonomy of institutions in taking decisions (prosecution service, anticorruption authority, etc.).

Finally, the clashes between oligarchs ended with the monopolization of the political power by the Democrats of Vladimir Plahotniuc, who became the actual ruler of the country.

Dionis Cenusa noted that the EU is criticized for facilitating the remaining in power of the so-called pro-European forces that embezzled funds in amounts that hadn’t been known until 2009.

In reality, the political forces in Moldova, with or without the EU, have always been suspected of lack of integrity and inclination towards corruption

Thus, the EU became a victim of circumstances and of the pro-European rhetoric of Chisinau, as civil society and the population did, being unable to prevent the political stratagems of the governments that ruled after 2009.

However, the criticism and dissatisfaction with the late reaction of the EU encouraged the latter to review its attitude. Consequently, the dialogue with Chisinau was besieged with approaches in favor of introducing more sophisticated conditionality elements, including political ones. The promotion of conditionality by the EU is also due to the civil society’s role in the reform process, which is ensured by the Association Agreement.

Ultimately, the politologist warns that Moldova faces risks and uncertainty related to the country’s course after 2018, Russia’s real influence on President Igor Dodon and the population’s capacity to mobilize to defend the European course if the pro-Russian forces take over.