President of the Washington-based Moldova Foundation Vlad Spanu considers the statements by the Western partners that they will cooperate with any President who will be elected on November 13 are rather ‘diplomatic formulations’, while the election of the pro-European President is also a stake in the implementation of real reforms. In an interview for Radio Free Europe, this said the people no longer trust the political system of Moldova and have been disappointed by several governments that ruled during the last 25 years, IPN reports.
Vlad Spanu said the message of the two candidates who will compete in the runoff elections is that they will be the agents of change to one direction or another and that things will no longer be as until now. Igor Dodon will take Moldova to the direction of subordination to the Russian Federation, as during the last 25 years, while Maia Sandu suggests a path followed by other countries of the region, such as those of the Central and Eastern Europe, especially Romania. In Moldova’s case, a better comparison can be the Baltic Countries, which formed part of the Soviet Union and now developed considerably.
Asked how Moldova’s partners from the West will cooperate with the state when the President is chosen, Vlad Spanu said the messages are now diplomatic, but in reality things will stand differently. “If Maia Sandu is elected President, this will be a very clear signal for the countries from the neighborhood of the Republic of Moldova and for Moldova’s main partners that the country has the chance to go towards good economic development and goes towards democratic development inside the country,” he stated.
According to him, if Maia Sandu wins, there will be much better relations first of all with Romania and Ukraine and good relations with the European Union and the United States, which are two very important foreign donors that want Moldova to follow a democratic path and have good relations with international organizations, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
If Igor Dodon wins the elections, Moldova will have good relations with Russia, because Russia is interested in keeping the Republic of Moldova in its sphere of influence, and bad relations with Romania and Ukraine. “We know the Romaniaphobe messages of Igor Dodon. Ukraine will never forgive Igor Dodon for saying that Crimea actually belongs to Russia, not Ukraine,” said Vlad Spanu.
