Moldova remains hostage to the confrontation between the EU and Russia, considers the head of ITAR-TASS office in Moldova Valery Demidetskii. “I refer not to a development model and benefits of cooperation, but to the fact that they try to use us as boys for noogies,” the journalist stated in IPN’s public debate “Translation difficulties: Why do Russian speakers have reservations about Euro-integrators?”
He also reiterated the way in which the geopolitical confrontation started: “The West decided that Russia’s withdrawal from this market is a sign of its vulnerability and this should no longer be taken into account. But such interpretation generated an opposite reaction. Russia riposted: You should not have treated us this way and we will thus not comply with the rules of the imposed game. This was said as part of the famous speech given by Putin in Munich in 2007 and the confrontation started from there.”
Valery Demidetskii is sure that we cannot influence this geopolitical confrontation. “Russia and the EU will defend their interests. The U.S. will also juggle. This is also evident in the case of the liquefied petroleum gas and in the story with “Novichok” that annihilated even the presumption of innocence. The confrontation was, is and will be and does not depend on us.”
According to the journalist, Moldova could try and reduce the impact of this confrontation to a minimum. “The problem resides in the fact that the politicians and experts present this as malevolence on the part of Russia, Europe or America. Consequently, our society is divided and the rocking boat threats to cause a disaster. We must look for solutions to unite society as there is no other way out,” he concluded.
The public debate “Translation difficulties: Why do Russian speakers have reservations about Euro-integrators?” forms part of the series “Overcoming European integration stereotypes through communication” that is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
