IPN analysis: The Governor of Gagauzia Mihail Formuzal had a meeting with the Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitri Rogozin in Moscow. Permanent author of IPN analyses about Gagauzia Veaceslav Craciun examined the specific features of the meeting and presumed that Moscow may benefit from relations with the autonomous unit within the dialogue with Moldova.
Meetings with advertising
Dmitri Rogozin received the Governor of Moldova’s Autonomous Unit Territorial Gagauzia Mihail Formuzal as a guest. This scarce information was broadcast through the personal Twitter and Facebook websites of the Russian official. We already know that when Moldovan political activists pay visits to Moscow, this fact obligatorily becomes, on the initiative of the visitors, a good informational occasion long before the visit is made. For them it is important to underline the shaking of hands in offices of high-ranking Russian officials. However, in the given case the information duty was evidently assumed by the hosts, in the person of the Russian Deputy Prime Minister. But the most unexpected thing that does not fit the protocol canons was the publication of a photo near these lines of the news, showing Rogozin embracing Formuzal with one hand and holding with the other hand “The Regions’ Newspaper” that is published by the political party of the Gagauz leader. What did these two officials actually discuss and what was the purpose of this photographic gesture that is evidently out of place?
Mihail Formuzal has told IPN that the discussion with Rogozin centered on the development of the interregional relations of Gagauzia with Russia. It should be noted that Gagauzia has rich experience of cooperating with Russian regions. It signed cooperation agreements with Bryansk, Penza, Tatarstan and other regions. Given that Gagauzia benefits from important material assistance from the Russian regions with which it established fraternity relations, its administration still makes effort to extend the list of its partners in Russia. There probably appeared the necessity of coordinating the system of these relations with the Russian government. It’s not excluded that the meeting of Rogozin and Formuzal took place namely in this context.
Wine-related ‘separatism’
Another goal of the Gagauz leader’s visit to Moscow may be the negotiations over the ban imposed by Russia on wine imports from Moldova. Moldova’s south, especially Gagauzia, was most seriously affected by this ban. Mihail Formuzal may have attempted to solve this problem with the help of the Russian Deputy Prime Minister. He recently stated that if Moldova does not take measures to support the national winemakers, the authorities of the region will have to address this issue by themselves. However, one day after Formuzal’s meeting with Rogozin, Moldovan Minister of Agriculture Vasile Bumacov went to Moscow to discuss the same problem with the Russian authorities. Thus, if the Governor had indeed intended to discuss the wine problem with Rogozin, his visit would have been coordinated with the administration of the Ministry of Agriculture of Moldova.
Russia’s stakes
The fact that Rogozin keeps Formuzal’s party paper in his hand in the photo makes us think that the two discussed the possibility of supporting the party headed by the Governor of Gagauzia. Usually, before the campaign preceding the parliamentary elections, the Moldovan people classify the political forces depending on the support they enjoy in Russia. For example, many approve of the detailed coverage of the latest ‘revolutionary’ actins of the Community Party by the Russian media as a confirmation of the fact that Moscow counts on the PCRM. It’s hard to perceive the gesture of the Russian Deputy Prime Minister, who presents the logotype of a Moldovan newspaper in the picture, as an allusion confirming a supposition or another. Everything was done deliberately, most probably with the aim of making us believe in support, rather than of showing that such support really exists.
“3+2” + Gagauzia?
Another subject of the meeting of Rogozin and Formuzal may be related to the second position of the Russian politician, who is the Russian President’s special representative for the Transnistrian settlement. Gagauzia, in the person of its leader, repeatedly announced its intentions to obtain a status similar to Transnistria’s in case the country is reunified. It is evident that if the official Chisinau refuses at least to examine these pretentions for objective reasons, Rogozin will become for Gagauzia the person who may help it if not to be included in the negotiation process in the “3+2” format, then to include its position in the agenda of the negotiations. Russian officials haven’t yet uttered such theses. But, we can be sure that if such a necessity appears, the stance of Comrat will be immediately made public as an important condition of the reunification.
The Gagauz railcar
Euphemistically speaking, Dmitri Rogozin is not by far one of the Russian officials with insignificant power. That’s why his meetings with each of the Moldovan politicians, including high-ranking ones, always represent occasions for making supposition and for meditating. The two lines of the mentioned news and the photo are full of signals that cannot be ignored.
Thus, any of the mentioned topics, either the provision of support by Russian regions to Gagauzia, the separate lifting of the Russian ban or the inclusion of the Gagauz region in the process of settling the Transnistrian dispute, can become a reason for logical concern for the Moldovan authorities.
Russia has stepped up its actions in Transnistria. It directed millions of rubles to the region as investments. Social facilities are erected with money provided by the Russian Government. It seems that the official Moscow, after drawing conclusions concerning the prospects of cooperation with Moldova, decided to transform the Transnistrian region into its own well-strengthened border territory. Who will guarantee that such plans will not be also implemented in Gagauzia, which shows that it is loyal to Russia? It seems improbable at first sight, but Rogozin’s recent statements that Moldova may lose some of its railcars on the way to the EU make us think that this metaphoric expression may come true.
Veaceslav Craciun, IPN
