It is hard to anticipate what Moscow will do in response to the Moldovan authorities’ decision to institute diplomatic parity as Russia used up its possibilities of influencing Moldova, said political commentator Ion Tăbîrță. According to him, the relationship between Chisinau and Moscow is tense as Russia does not stop treating the Republic of Moldova as a colony, IPN reports.
On July 26, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration announced its decision to equate the number of diplomatic, administrative and technical personnel between Russia and Moldova. Under the decision, at the current stage, based on the principle of parity each state will be represented by 10 diplomats and 15 administrative and technical specialists. The political commentator said the given decision shows the Moldovan-Russian relations are tense.
“The Moldovan-Russian relationship is deficient. The current government tried to build a pragmatic dialogue with the Russian Federation, but failed to, primarily because the war started and an improvement in the relations with Russia is not possible when the official Chisinau recognizes Russia as an aggressor state. To have a different relationship with Russia, we need to declare our support for the aggression against Ukraine or to support this tacitly. Russia treats the Republic of Moldova according to the metropolis-colony relationship. Russia, in particular Vladimir Putin, has this mentality. The aggression launched by Putin against Ukraine is the result of this mentality and revanchist policy,” Ion Tăbârță stated in the program “Reflection Points” on Vocea Basarabiei channel.
According to the political commentator, it is hard to imagine what Russia can yet invent to punish the official Chisinau as the Kremlin no longer has instruments for exerting influence on the Republic of Moldova.
“Russia has used up its possibilities of influencing the Republic of Moldova. The process of exerting influence started in 2013. We remember the bans imposed on agrifood and wine products in punishment for the initialing and signing of the Association Agreement with the EU. Later, they employed the energy leverage. Gradually, the Republic of Moldova started to resist the pressure exerted by Russia. We must admit that the energy dependence on the Republic of Moldova diminished, but didn’t fully disappear,” noted Ion Tăbârță.
The Moldovan authorities’ decision to equal the number of diplomatic, administrative and technical specialists between Russia and Moldova was communicated to Russia’s Ambassador in Chisinau and will take effect on August 15, 2023.
