The massive bank fraud known as the “heist of the century” has marked Moldova's steepest decline since its independence on many key directions, including in terms of politics and morals. This is argued in an IPN analytical piece titled “Independence 2015: The Year of Decline, the first and the last”. Columnist Valeriu Vasilica suggests that the losses recorded over the past year should be measured not by the direct costs but first of all by the opportunities that have been missed despite unprecedentedly favorable conditions.
To avoid a worst-case scenario where the 24th year of Moldova's independence would later prove to be its last one on the European integration course, the authorities are urged to take extraordinary and urgent measures.
“We would very much want to believe prime minister Valeriu Strelets when he says that with the new Cabinet installed, Moldova has moved a small step away from the brink; that the first measures announced to strengthen the financial and banking system, to restore the relationship with the IMF, to reanimate the settlement of the Transnistrian conflict, to fix the strains between Chisinau and Comrat, and so on, will serve this purpose”, says the columnist.
However, Valeriu Vasilica notes that the announced measures are yet mere statements of good intent, being rather far from Thorbjorn Jagland's recommendations that would return the captured state to its citizens. These recommendations include: “fix the banks”, “immediately begin purging corrupt officials from public bodies”; “the dozens of judges — some very high-profile — who have been accused of egregiously abusing their power should be investigated. Law enforcement agencies must also do everything they can to arrest the individuals responsible for the massive bank fraud.”
At the same time, the situation that raises concern among so many European partners has been built for years through deliberate actions by the Moldovan political elite, and we should expect that playing the tape back will be a painful and lengthy process, if at all possible.
“This dose of pessimism is inspired by other, parallel signals showed by the (not so) new government. Keeping the same people in ministries and governmental agencies, in addition to often making rather bizarre and controversial appointments, raises again reasonable doubts about the government's capacity and political will to change things radically and eventually return the state to its rightful owners, the people. On the contrary, the anti-reforms proposed on the first days of the new Cabinet, at the Education Ministry for example, indicates an even greater and deeper subduing of the state institutions to narrow interests. From the very fist days, the reform conducted with so much effort in education is eliminated by the system, just like its promoter Maia Sandu was eliminated earlier”, concludes Valeriu Vasilica in the IPN analysis “Independence 2015: The Year of Decline, the first and the last”.
