Igor Dodon went to Moscow with the aim of announcing the election campaign prior to the parliamentary elections of 2018, considers political analyst Igor Botan. Asked by IPN to comment on the President’s statements in Moscow, the analyst said Igor Dodon confirmed the intention of the Party of Socialists to win the legislative elections and terminate the Moldova-EU Association Agreement.

According to Igor Botan, by his visit to Moscow Igor Dodon is trying to obtain the support of the Russian President so as to win the future parliamentary elections.

As to Igor Dodon’s assertions about the Transnistrian issue, the analyst said such subjects are discussed in the country first, with experts and the public opinion. “Igor Dodon causes the bad impression of neophyte. He does not study the file of the problem,” he stated.

Igor Botan said the President should not forget that his predecessor Vladimir Voronin had three federalization projects and none of these was possible because, first of all, the Transnistrian region does not want this. “Mister Dodon considers that if he goes to Moscow and tells about federalization in the presence of Mister Putin, the Russian President will oblige those from the left side of the Nistru to sit at the negotiating table. This is probably the logic of Igor Dodon,” he stated.

The analyst believes President Dodon knows very well that the federalization initiative cannot be simply applied. It should be discussed together with the pullout of the Russian troops from the Transnistrian region, but Igor Dodon does not have and will never have the courage to raise this issue.