Russia’s influence in Gagauzia is greater than in the Transnistrian region, and the government needs to communicate with citizens from different social groups to prevent the radicalization of society, said Andrei Curăraru, of the WatchDog Community NGO, during the latest installment of IPN’s Political Culture series of debates.
Andrei Curăraru says that in Moldova there are groups that try to radicalize society, through attempts to educate a generation of young people exposed to Russian narratives. According to the expert, the Eurasia organization, financed by the fugitive oligarch Ilan Shor, is one such example of radicalization, with dozens of Moldovan children taken to supper camps in Russia for “brainwashing”.
“A glaring case is the one concerning the Eurasia NGO, headed by the former accountant of the Orhei City Hall, affiliated with Ilan Shor, which now takes young people to summer camps near the Crimea peninsula, where they are exposed to historical and ideological narratives of the Russian Federation. The goal of these camps is to resize the image of Russia in the eyes of young people. The foundations are laid for a radicalization of young people, often minors, so that these young people can be the backbone of street protests or other riots”, said Curăraru.
According to the expert, many Moldovan politicians are trying to stir up division for political gains, exploiting people’s nostalgia for the Soviet era.
“The identity crisis has characterized us since the 1990s. We have a good part of the society that has not adapted to the new realities, who are nostalgic for the Soviet era. A part of society is waiting for the government to provide them with jobs and homes. This identity crisis is easy for politicians to exploit, they exploit this nostalgia, they talk about returning to certain Soviet standards, returning to a traditional common market. Different fact in reality. The reality is that the Republic of Moldova, in these 30 years, is very far from what it was during the Soviet period. Moreover, that project can no longer be revitalized under any circumstances”, the expert added.
Curăraru added that the government has a task to communicate effectively with all categories of citizens so as to prevent the radicalization of society. According to the expert, currently, the Gagauz autonomy has a potential for radicalization, as the influence of the Russian Federation in the south of the country is even greater than in the Transnistrian region.
“Radicalization in the world created the phenomenon of terrorism. Radical movements have always used violent methods. In the case of Moldova, I believe that this threat is lower, considering our national, ethnic, religious specifics. What can produce radicalization in Moldova is the lack of communication and the inability of society to reach consensus about European integration and the development model of the state. The lack of communication and interaction between different social groups can lead to a fragmentation where we have linguistic and geographical poles that do not want to continue cooperation with the national authorities. We have had separatist movements in Moldova. The threat of such movements is quite a real danger for Moldova. We see what is happening in Gagauzia. Now the influence of the Russian Federation in Gagauzia and the activism of the authorities in Gagauzia is greater than in the Transnistrian region. It is important that we as a society, and especially the government, prevent this radicalization and continue communication. Deradicalization is a much more complex and difficult process than preventing radicalization”, Andrei Curăraru explained.
This was the 313th installment of the Political Culture Series, run by IPN with the support of the Hanns Seidel Foundation.