The behavior of the Moldovan authorities over the sanctions imposed against the Russian Federation is not clear and decided, considers journalist Ion Terguță. “The Republic of Moldova was too frightened to take a trenchant decision about the sanctions against Russia owing to the military actions in Ukraine and to the commercial relations. I now do not see any prospects in the commercial relations with the Russian Federation, which is an aggressor with respect to the Republic of Moldova,” the journalist stated in a public debate on the issue staged by IPN.
Speaking about Moldova’s position on the sanctions, Ion Terguță underlined the favorable and understanding attitude of the Ukrainian authorities to Moldovan authorities’ actions. The refugees are the main reason for such an attitude. “It is paradoxical that the authorities in Ukraine are not angry with the authorities in Chisinau. This can be due to the fact that the Republic of Moldova accepted an impressive number of refugees. Anyway, the Republic of Moldova has nothing to gain from this incongruous behavior with regard to the Russian Federation,” he said, noting that farmers in Moldova have suffered the consequences of the ban imposed by Russia on the import of Moldovan agricultural products for many years.
Ion Terguță considers that in the eventuality of a new Cold War as a result of the Russo-Ukrainian war, the Republic of Moldova will be unable to keep its status of neutrality and will have to take sides with someone. Moldova should decide whether it will subscribe to the international sanctions against Russia that is an aggressor against Moldova too, with troops on its territory, or will support Russia. When an evident choice is made, everyone can see it. The current government is afraid to take a decision now and this considerably affects the Moldovan citizens.
In another development, the journalist noted the negative impact of the sanctions against the quality of life of the Russian citizens. “Even if the sanctions are not directly aimed against the Russian population, the authors of the sanctions try to make the Russian citizens overthrow the regime of Putin, which will evidently lead to the impoverishing of the population of the Russian Federation,” he stated.
The public debate entitled “Western sanctions against Russia: reasons, mechanisms of action, effects, position of the Republic of Moldova” was the 231st installment of IPN’s project “Developing Political Culture through Public Debates” that is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
