Political pundit Igor Boțan considers the Republic of Moldova’s membership in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is purely formal. It could have been useful to Moldovans in particular areas, like the humanitarian one, but after Crimea was annexed by Russia in 2014, the number of Moldovans in Russia decreased seven-eight times, from about 600,000 to nearly 500,000. After Russia invaded Ukraine, the CIS space fully loses significance for the Republic of Moldova. The statements were made in a public debate hosted by IPN as the standing expert of IPN Agency’s project.
Igor Boțan said it is well-known that the CIS was to serve as a kind of substituent for the interaction of the former Soviet republics after the dismemberment of the Soviet Union. “We know that this concept wasn’t clearly worked out and the consequences of this fact are evident. For circles in the Russian Federation, the CIS was to become a new platform that would bring the former Soviet republics into a common space, either it goes to the Customs Union or to the Eurasian Economic Union,” explained the expert.
According to him, the position of Ukraine was very important from the start and this state had a clear position that the CIS is the model of a civilized divorce between the Soviet republics. “Ukraine was constant, perseverant and this dissention between the viewpoints of the circles in the Russian Federation and in Ukraine ultimately led to this conflict or, to say it better, this differing attitude matches this context,” stated Igor Boțan.
As to Moldova’s foreign policy concept, the expert said that after declaring its Independence over 30 years ago, the country had official documents and policies oriented to the EU, with the first being the Declaration of Independence adopted in 1995, based on which the then President Petru Luchinski for two times called on the EU leaders to grant the candidate status to Moldova. But no response came.
Igor Boțan noted the tendency was kept even after the Communists came to power and initially promised to integrate Moldova into the Russia-Belarus-Kazakhstan Customs Union. In a year and a half, President Vladimir Voronin signed the decree on the European integration of the Republic of Moldova. In 2008, the Communist leader asked for the EU candidate status for Moldova. The Alliances for European Integration followed and an Association Agreement with the EU was signed. The recent events also confirm the country’s European aspirations. Moldova should be consistent till the end and should work hard to achieve the European integration objective.
The public debate entitled “New Russian foreign policy concept and its impact on the Republic of Moldova” was the 279th installment of IPN’s project “Developing Political Culture through Public Debates” that is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
