President-elect Igor Dodon wants to keep the EU as a partner, but only as a source of assistance provided to satisfy the country’s needs, politologist Dionis Cenusa writes in a new opinion article produced for IPN.

Dionis Cenusa says Igor Dodon wants reforms, but does not regard these as a part of the European integration process and compares the entry into the EU with the termination of the Moldovan state.

“The goal of the transformations, supported by the EU and acceptable to Igor Dodon, is not to join the EU, but to survive and to strengthen the state. This is crucial for avoiding the frenetic spread of the pro-unionist sympathies among the people, which now make up about 20% already,” wrote Dionis Cenusa.

He considers that the final goal pursued by Igor Dodon is to convert the country into a close ally of Russia, while in the long-term – into a member state of the Eurasian Economic Union.

The possibilities and deviance angle of the European project in Moldova after Igor Dodon is invested President will depend on several essential circumstances, namely Russia’s position in Moldova, efficiency of the European agenda of the government, populism in the EU and the results of the ordinary parliamentary elections of 2018 in Moldova.

Dionis Cenusa concludes that the de-Europeanization foreign and domestic policy objectives pursued by Igor Dodon are set for medium- and long-terms. These are strongly connected with the subsequent ascent of the Socialists, the general position of the pro-Russian forces in the country and Russia’s power in relation to the EU and the situation in Ukraine.