Apparently, the Republic of Moldova is seen as a state that does not know what it wants given the dual way of understanding how the presidential institution and the Government should pursue the foreign policy and this is a problem, considers Deputy Speaker of Parliament, ex-Premier Iurie Leanca. In an interview for Radio Free Europe, the politician said confusion is caused in perceptions in this regard, but the perception counts, sometimes even more than the reality, so that this duplication of the Republic of Moldova causes damage to the country’s image and future, IPN reports.
Iurie Leanca said Moldova has a parliamentary system of government and the priorities of the domestic and foreign policy in any country with such a system are formulated by Parliament, while the Government puts these priorities into practice. “So, all the instruments in particular are concentrated in the Government’s hands, as it is decided by Parliament, so that these attempts by President Dodon to pose as an important player in the process of designing and pursuing the foreign policy are rather image-related things that have no impact, thank God, on the priority foreign policy objectives,” he stated.
As to Igor Dodon’s visit to Teheran and the guests from North Korea who visited Moldova, the Deputy Speaker said the choice made by the President is strange. “It is strange because he is not a novice in state affairs and was earlier minister. First of all, he definitely realizes where the political and financial support for the Republic of Moldova comes from. I don’t think he doesn’t see how the relations between the West - our partners that support us and want us to have a functional state, with people who feel well at home - and the East develop,” stated the ex-Premier.
According to Leanca, it is not only about Russia. Accidentally or not, the last resolutions adopted by an overwhelming majority by the United States Chamber of Representatives and Senate are aimed against Russia, Iran and North Korea. “So, given this very tough relationship and the very powerful animosities between the West - those who help us - and these countries, I have the feeling that Mister Dodon is either shortsighted or intentionally contributes to destroying the image of the Republic of Moldova, especially in relation to our partners that always helped us,” said the politician.
As regards the meetings between Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Dmitry Rogozin and Igor Dodon, Iurie Leanca said they can discuss over the phone too if they need to discuss something. Rogozin will try to demonstrate that he has particular weight in the decision-making process and, as he promised, particular persons from Romania and also Moldova could be included in the “blacklist” of the Russian Federation, following particular sanctions.
The Deputy Speaker noted that after Igor Dodon was elected President, he chose a confrontation line in relation to the Government. Such co-habitation was witnessed in other states too, but these were more civilized states. However, at the foreign level they try to agree common lines of conduct and action. When a person is elected President, this should promote the state interests and have a dialogue with the Government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and should abandon the electoral rhetoric, but this didn’t happen.
