The Socialist leader Igor Dodon made oscillating statements about the Moldova –EU Association Agreement during the past two years, say the authors of an article produced within the Sic! project. According to them, from oscillating declarations about the accord two years ago, the Socialist leader returned to better feelings during the election campaign, but put on again the initial aggressive tone after he was elected President.
The authors note that since 2014 until this summer, the Party of Socialists led by Igor Dodon staged a number of events, including protests, conferences and roundtable meetings, where the Socialists openly pleaded for terminating the Association Agreement and highlighted the shortcomings in the process of implementing this. “By now, the Socialist’s position is clear. Even so, analyzing in detail the articles, we can deduce that during this period too, Igor Dodon evolved from denouncement in 2014 to the necessity of reviewing the Association Agreement in 2016,” says the article on sic.md!
In the campaign prior to the presidential elections, Igor Dodon returned to ‘better feelings’ in relation to the Association Agreement with the EU. In a debate on the public TV channel before the runoff, the Socialist candidate said he is for good relations with the EU and denied that he wants to terminate the accord. He also said, in conclusion, that the relations with the EU and the liberalized visa regime will remain intact. “The relations remain good, of friendship, but we must solve the issue of trade as a result of negotiations,” he stated.
In the election campaign, Igor Dodon also took a more flexible position on Moldova’s entry into the Eurasian Union and insistently promoted this thesis in almost all his public statements. Moreover, in an electoral debate, the leader of the PSRM made it clear that after he is elected to the office of President, he will leave this desideratum in the care of the Party of Socialists.
“Even if he wasn’t confirmed officially and his victory in the November 13 elections is disputed, President-elect Igor Dodon gave his first interviews to the Russian press, shifting again his position. In an interview for the Moscow-based paper Izvestia.ru published on November 14, Igor Dodon said again that the Association Agreement with the EU is ‘a big mistake’ and he aims to obtain the abolition of this document,” say the article authors.
In the same interview, Igor Dodon stated he is a supporter of the idea of joining the Eurasian Union. He also said that the prerogatives of the Head of State enable him to sign, initially, a memorandum and he could thus put forward such an initiative. This statement goes against the ideas expressed by Igor Dodon in a debate on ProTV Chisinau channel, where he said he will be President for everyone and the Eurasian integration will be further deal with by the Party of Socialists.
In conclusion, the authors of the article say this is an example of opportunist political discourse used skillfully by a politician with experience like Igor Dodon and the direction that the Socialist will follow as Head of State will be yet seen.
The full article in Romanian can be read on the website sic.md. Sic! is a project by IPN News Agency implemented with the assistance of Soros Foundation Moldova.
