Irina Vlah took the oath of office as Governor of Gagauzia at a ceremony hosted by the autonomy’s legislature on Friday evening.

In her inauguration speech, Vlah said bringing migrant Gagauz back home, implementing large-scale infrastructure projects, increasing people’s earnings, and extending and launching new social programs will be among her priorities.

The re-elected governor asked the Gagauz political class to “put political confrontations aside” and channel the energy into improving the socio-economic situation in the autonomy instead. “It is high time for us to act! We will most certainly build the Çadır-Lunga airport and the Valkaneş power plant, in the face of all the skeptics. Launching these facilities will give a huge impetus the entire region’s economic growth,” declared Irina Vlah.

Attending the ceremony, President Igor Dodon said he is convinced that the positive changes in Gagauzia will continue and that people’s lives in the autonomy will improve. “I believe that this region has been given a fresh chance to make people’s lives more prosperous, just as the Republic of Moldova has been given a new chance for progress thanks to the unprecedented consensus reached among political forces,” stated the president.

According to Igor Dodon, on June 30 voters in Gagauzia made “the right choice.” He praised Vlah for being a “professional manager” during her first term in office, as income to Gagauzia’s budget increased 1.6 times to 826 million lei, including an almost two-fold increase in own revenues, to 409 million lei.

Speaker Zinaida Greceanîi congratulated the Gagauz people on Irina Vlah’s re-election, whom she lauded as “a new-generation leader, whose work in Gagauzia is a remarkable example for the entire country”. Zinaida Greceanîi went on: “Irina Vlah and her team demonstrated that it is possible to develop a region not thanks to stolen money, but thanks to a lot of hard work and dedication, thanks to efforts made to attract investment from both the East and the West and systematically develop relations with external partners. And if this has been possible in Gagauzia, I am convinced that this can be achieved in other parts of Moldova, as well.”

Prime Minister Maia Sandu agreed that Irina Vlah has done a lot for the development of Gagauzia, but she has a difficult task ahead, that of creating institutions which work in the interest of the people. “We have common goals and we are obliged to create for our citizens a free state that provides equal opportunities for growth for everybody,” said Maia Sandu, adding that the practice of using state institutions for narrow interests must be eradicated across Moldova, including Gagauzia.

Maia Sandu also stated that the status of Gagauzia should be clarified because this has been a point of contention for too long. Additionally, the prime minister offered to work with the Gagauz authorities on a program to develop and expand the language and culture of Gagauzia.

Vladimir Cîssa, chairman of the Gagauz People’s Assembly, stated that Governor Vlah has a difficult task ahead: to preserve the status of Gagauzia while pushing for its proportional integration in the government structure for an active participation in the affairs of the state in the interest of the Gagauz people.

Irina Vlah won the re-election by 92%.