Politics
Immaturity issues
Reading Time: 3 minutesThe reaction of the Moldovan Democratic Party after the appeal launched by the President Ghimpu to the North Atlantic Alliance is not only regretful, it is worthy of disregard and irony at full swing.
By Andrei Munteanu
Chisinau (Moldova.ORG) – The reaction of the Moldovan Democratic Party after the appeal launched by the President Ghimpu to the North Atlantic Alliance is not only regretful, it is worthy of disregard and irony at full swing. By this reaction, actually it is noticeable that the MDP does not seem to be a party with democratic „facet”, it seems like being be mostly an ad-hoc emerged party, which only got the moment some time ago, to monopolize the “domain”, so that now it can accumulate capital… let’s say political too.
The „Marian Lupu styled” behavior is not new to us; we have known that in the recent past, and some longer time ago. One of them is the case when the representatives of the so-called church „Mother Matrons” from the R.M., wanted to be more “orthodox” than the Patriarch of Moscow. By the fact that they aggressed the Highly Ranked official of the Moscow Patriarchy – proto-deacon Andrei Kuraev – they have displayed lack of elementary culture in any regards – either secular or Christian.
By the regretful attitude, Lupu straightforwardly displays he is unable to make any distinction between „loyalty”, “partnership” and „ sycophancy” towards “somebody”, who eventually may not have even asked him to do so… to that extent and in such an absurd manner. While thinking of Lupu’s “gesture”, it reminds me the anti-alcoholism campaign of Mr. Gorbachiov’s time, when in the R.M. were cut immense areas of vine plantations, so that shortly afterwards, from many sources we got to know that nobody in Moscow could even think of cutting vines… There was an urge to produce grapes juice instead of wine. It was a mere manifestation of a “chiefs’ syndrome” at the republican level, of the former Soviet Socialist Republic of Moldavia (SSRM), who used to “compete for loyalty”. What Lupu is doing seems mostly a manifestation of cheap „chief-ism” nobody may have needed, but, once emerged, somebody’s reaction could be – „…let it be”.
Marian Lupu seems to be unable make distinction between rancor and rational occurrence of approaching the causality of the Moldova’s underdevelopment und subsistence comprehensively, i.e., including through the angle of inheritance factor. The fear of not getting in “somebody’s disgrace” causes him an emotional blockage and neither seems to understand that, by the fact that there have been „European diplomatic efforts”, he thinks could be “undermined” due to Mr. Ghimpu’s appeal, we cannot believe that somebody owes us to settle our problems, while we can wait in an „ignoramus manner”.
It is high time that at least Mr. Lupu be aware that if he does not share the stance of the Mr. President Ghimpu, admit that at least the latter has this right, and should anybody call him to account – admit with due dignity of a leader, that Mr. Ghimpu has the right to think and proceed as he considers and, that Mr. Lupu does not have the right to claim for being more than he is – a leader of a party which is what it is according to results of the opinion poll(s) as on the moment of publishing this/them.
If the appeal of Mr. Ghimpu has been launched after Mrs. Merkel’s initiative, isn’t it ridiculous to have this kind of attitude towards his initiative?
The text of the appeal is not a message with anti-Russian rhetoric. It is a message with analytical rhetoric and, in a sound analysis of a problem equation, one cannot operate with too many „unknown variables”, particularly when their number is not so big. It is a message of intent for pro-development of the R.M., and Marian Lupu should understand that not any mention of an entity in a certain declaration, we may disagree, mandatorily means a manifestation “anti-“ the respective entity. In this appeal there isn’t any malicious manifestation towards the RF, but rather, a mention of consecutive factors and measures that need to be undertaken in order to de-block possible ways for natural development of the R.M.
So far there’s been enough time to draw conclusions on which are the attitudes towards the R.M. What has been noticed on behalf of the RF is that it does not manifest interest towards pro-development initiatives and occurrences of the R.M., and one cannot skip and/or stay indifferent forever on this issue.
Thus, the R.M. needs a security „umbrella” for being able be attractive for the sound strategic investors, and, in this regard it is hard to believe that Lupu cannot make distinction between the private investments and state loans, without which the R.M. virtually cannot move, even if they are more charitable by nature, rather than coming from interest of partnership stemmed from mutual satisfaction and more trust in eventual an win-win outcome. Even admitting this fact, we should be aware in taking attitudes, who is worthy of gratitude.
When having a chance to compare occurrences of selfishness and genuine big deals, it does not matter when they occurs – in the electoral campaign or not – it matters that they occur, nevertheless, even though sooner or later; what matters is if there are or not people who can be bearers of values and not mere „leaders” inebriated by „illusionary charisma”, which in many situations can transform in torturing burden, for whole nations, for tens of years.
A new football club has earned a leading place in the UEFA Champions League groups and starred in the headlines of worldwide football news yesterday. The Football Club Sheriff Tiraspol claimed a win with the score 2-1 against Real Madrid on the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid. That made Sheriff Tiraspol the leader in Group D of the Champions League, including the football club in the groups of the most important European interclub competition for the first time ever.
International media outlets called it a miracle, a shock and a historic event, while strongly emphasizing the origin of the team and the existing political conflict between the two banks of the Dniester. “Football club from a pro-Russian separatist enclave in Moldova pulls off one of the greatest upsets in Champions League history,” claimed the news portals. “Sheriff crushed Real!” they said.
Moldovans made a big fuss out of it on social media, splitting into two groups: those who praised the team and the Republic of Moldova for making history and those who declared that the football club and their merits belong to Transnistria – a problematic breakaway region that claims to be a separate country.
Both groups are right and not right at the same time, as there is a bunch of ethical, political, social and practical matters that need to be considered.
Is it Moldova?
First of all, every Moldovan either from the right or left bank of Dniester (Transnistria) is free to identify himself with this achievement or not to do so, said Vitalie Spranceana, a sociologist, blogger, journalist and urban activist. According to him, boycotting the football club for being a separatist team is wrong.
At the same time, “it’s an illusion to think that territory matters when it comes to football clubs,” Spranceana claimed. “Big teams, the ones included in the Champions League, have long lost their connection both with the countries in which they operate, and with the cities in which they appeared and to which they linked their history. […] In the age of globalized commercial football, teams, including the so-called local ones, are nothing more than global traveling commercial circuses, incidentally linked to cities, but more closely linked to all sorts of dirty, semi-dirty and cleaner cash flows.”
What is more important in this case is the consistency, not so much of citizens, as of politicians from the government who have “no right to celebrate the success of separatism,” as they represent “the national interests, not the personal or collective pleasures of certain segments of the population,” believes the political expert Dionis Cenusa. The victory of FC Sheriff encourages Transnistrian separatism, which receives validation now, he also stated.
“I don’t know how it happens that the “proud Moldovans who chose democracy”, in their enthusiasm for Sheriff Tiraspol’s victory over Real Madrid, forget the need for total and unconditional withdrawal of Russian troops from Transnistria!” declared the journalist Vitalie Ciobanu.
Nowadays, FC Sheriff Tiraspol has no other choice than to represent Moldova internationally. For many years, the team used the Moldovan Football Federation in order to be able to participate in championships, including international ones. That is because the region remains unrecognised by the international community. However, the club’s victory is presented as that of Transnistria within the region, without any reference to the Republic of Moldova, its separatist character being applied in this case especially.
Is it a victory?
In fact, FC Sheriff Tiraspol joining the Champions League is a huge image breakthrough for the Transnistrian region, as the journalist Madalin Necsutu claimed. It is the success of the Tiraspol Club oligarchic patrons. From the practical point of view, FC Sheriff Tiraspol is a sports entity that serves its own interests and the interests of its owners, being dependent on the money invested by Tiraspol (but not only) oligarchs.
Here comes the real dilemma: the Transnistrian team, which is generously funded by money received from corruption schemes and money laundering, is waging an unequal fight with the rest of the Moldovan football clubs, the journalist also declared. The Tiraspol team is about to raise 15.6 million euro for reaching the Champions League groups and the amounts increase depending on their future performance. According to Necsutu, these money will go directly on the account of the club, not to the Moldovan Football Federation, creating an even bigger gab between FC Sheriff and other football clubs from Moldova who have much more modest financial possibilities.
“I do not see anything useful for Moldovan football, not a single Moldovan player is part of FC Sheriff Tiraspol. I do not see anything beneficial for the Moldovan Football Federation or any national team.”
Is it only about football?
FC Sheriff Tiraspol, with a total estimated value of 12.8 million euros, is controlled by Victor Gusan and Ilya Kazmala, being part of Sheriff Holding – a company that controls the trade of wholesale, retail food, fuels and medicine by having monopolies on these markets in Transnistria. The holding carries out car trading activities, but also operates in the field of construction and real estate. Gusan’s people also hold all of the main leadership offices in the breakaway region, from Parliament to the Prime Minister’s seat or the Presidency.
The football club is supported by a holding alleged of smuggling, corruption, money laundering and organised crime. Moldovan media outlets published investigations about the signals regarding the Sheriff’s holding involvement in the vote mobilization and remuneration of citizens on the left bank of the Dniester who participated in the snap parliamentary elections this summer and who were eager to vote for the pro-Russian socialist-communist bloc.
Considering the above, there is a great probability that the Republic of Moldova will still be represented by a football club that is not identified as being Moldovan, being funded from obscure money, growing in power and promoting the Transnistrian conflict in the future as well.
Photo: unknown
Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova, Natalia Gavrilita, together with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nicu Popescu, pay an official visit to Brussels, between September 27-28, being invited by High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell Fontelles.
Today, Prime Minister had a meeting with Charles Michel, President of the European Council. The Moldovan PM thanked the senior European official for the support of the institution in strengthening democratic processes, reforming the judiciary and state institutions, economic recovery and job creation, as well as increasing citizens’ welfare. Natalia Gavrilita expressed her confidence that the current visit laid the foundations for boosting relations between the Republic of Moldova and the European Union, so that, in the next period, it would be possible to advance high-level dialogues on security, justice and energy. Officials also exchanged views on priorities for the Eastern Partnership Summit, to be held in December.
“The EU is open to continue to support the Republic of Moldova and the ambitious reform agenda it proposes. Moldova is an important and priority partner for us,” said Charles Michel.
Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita also met with Paolo Gentiloni, European Commissioner for Economy, expressing her gratitude for the support received through the OMNIBUS macro-financial assistance program. The two officials discussed the need to advance the recovery of money from bank fraud, to strengthen sustainable mechanisms for supporting small and medium-sized enterprises in Moldova, and to standardize the customs and taxes as one of the main conditions for deepening cooperation with the EU in this field.
Additionally, Prime Minister spoke about the importance of the Eastern Partnership and the Deep Free Trade Agreement, noting that the Government’s policies are aimed at developing an economic model aligned with the European economic model, focused on digitalization, energy efficiency and the green economy.
A common press release of the Moldovan Prime Minister with High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the Commission, Josep Borrell Fontelles, took place today, where the agenda of Moldova’s reforms and the main priorities to focus on in the coming months were presented: judiciary reform; fighting COVID-19 pandemic; promoting economic recovery and conditions for growth and job creation; strengthening state institutions and resilience of the country.
“I am here to relaunch the dialogue between my country and the European Union. Our partnership is strong, but I believe there is room for even deeper cooperation and stronger political, economic and sectoral ties. I am convinced that this partnership is the key to the prosperity of our country and I hope that we will continue to strengthen cooperation.”
The Moldovan delegation met Didier Reynders, European Commissioner for Justice. Tomorrow, there are scheduled common meetings with Oliver Varhelyi, European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement, Adina Valean, European Commissioner for Transport and Kadri Simson, European Commissioner for Energy.
Prime Minister will also attend a public event, along with Katarina Mathernova, Deputy Director-General for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations.
Photo: gov.md
Politics
Promo-LEX about Maia Sandu’s UN speech: The president must insist on appointing a rapporteur to monitor the situation of human rights in Transnistria
The President of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu, pays an official visit to New York, USA, between September 21-22. There, she participates in the work of the United Nations General Assembly. According to a press release of the President’s Office, the official will deliver a speech at the tribune of the United Nations.
In this context, the Promo-LEX Association suggested the president to request the appointment of a special rapporteur in order to monitor the situation of human rights in the Transnistrian region. According to Promo-LEX, the responsibility for human rights violations in the Transnistrian region arises as a result of the Russian Federation’s military, economic and political control over the Tiraspol regime.
“We consider it imperative to insist on the observance of the international commitments assumed by the Russian Federation regarding the withdrawal of the armed forces and ammunition from the territory of the country,” the representatives of Promo-LEX stated. They consider the speech before the UN an opportunity “to demand the observance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the Russian Federation with reference to this territory which is in its full control.”
“It is important to remember about the numerous cases of murder, torture, ill-treatment, forced enlistment in illegal military structures, the application of pseudo-justice in the Transnistrian region, all carried out under the tacit agreement of the Russian Federation. These findings stem from dozens of rulings and decisions issued by the European Court of Human Rights, which found that Russia is responsible for human rights violations in the region.”
The association representatives expressed their hope that the president of the country would give priority to issues related to the human rights situation in the Transnistrian region and would call on relevant international actors to contribute to guaranteeing fundamental human rights and freedoms throughout Moldova.
They asked Maia Sandu to insist on the observance of the obligation to evacuate the ammunition and the military units of the Russian Federation from the territory of the Republic of Moldova, to publicly support the need for the Russian Federation to implement the ECtHR rulings on human rights violations in the Transnistrian region, and to request the appointment of an UN Human Rights Council special rapporteur to monitor the human rights situation in the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova.
**
The Promo-LEX Association concluded that 14 out of 25 actions planned within the National Action Plan for the years 2018–2022 concerning respecting human rights in Transnistria were not carried out by the responsible authorities.
The association expressed its concern and mentioned that there are a large number of delays in the planned results. “There is a lack of communication and coordination between the designated institutions, which do not yet have a common vision of interaction for the implementation of the plan.”
Promo-LEX requested the Government of the Republic of Moldova to re-assess the reported activities and to take urgent measures, “which would exclude superficial implementation of future activities and increase the level of accountability of the authorities.”
Photo: peacekeeping.un.org
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