CHISINAU. Jan 9 – The executive coordinator of Moldova’s ruling coalition, the oligarch Vlad Plahotniuc has appealed to United States President-elect Donald Trump for support.
“As a small, landlocked former Soviet republic, squeezed between NATO countries in the west and Ukraine in the east, Moldova depends on the settlement of the U.S. relations with Russia. And for now, he last thing we want is to loosen our moorings to the West. We are certain that President-elect Trump’s vision may favorably transform the situation in terms of security in our region,” Plahotniuc wrote in an open letter published in the media.
“Many eastern Europeans welcome the Trump administration’s promise to improve U.S. relations with Russia, and Moldova hopes this won’t happen at the expense of our dream of a deeper relationship with the West,” the Moldovan oligarch wrote.
“As a businessman who also believes in the art of making deals, I hope Mr. Trump’s conflict-free approach towards Moscow will not only reduce tensions between two countries but will also reduce the pressure on countries such as ours in choosing sides. Whereas Moldova does not want to be drawn back into Moscow’s orbit, we also know that we cannot prosper by being just a pawn in the power struggle between East and West,” Plahotniuc said.
He expressed hope that “the United States will continue supporting our historical path towards our natural home within the European community.” “Instead of being drawn into another Cold War, we want to move forward as a free market economy, connected with the West, but also in peace with the East,” the leader of the ruling Moldovan coalition said.
“For most of the past 25 years of its independence Moldova has been a hotspot on the frontline of rivalry between Russia and the West,” he said.
“And that could only be a negative fact for a small country such as ours, as is evidenced by Russia’s constant support for Transnistria, the separatistic region within Moldova’s internationally recognized borders, where 2,500 Russian troops are deployed. For more than two decades the Transnistrian conflict has been jeopardizing the security of Moldova and the stability of Eastern Europe,” Plahotniuc said.
“Instead of being a battlefield, Moldova wants to be a bridge between East and West. The fact is, most Moldovans want to be pro-Western without being anti-Russian. With our cultural and historical affinity with Russia, our second biggest trade partner after the EU, we are not hostile towards Moscow. We want to resolve our differences with Russia, which mainly concern Transnistria, and to broaden our economic relations,” he said.
Plahotniuc is the executive coordinator of Moldova’s ruling pro-European coalition. In late 2016 he was officially elected as chairman of the Democratic Party of Moldova, which he had controlled and financed unofficially since 2009. Experts reckon that by heading up the Democratic Party Plahotniuc is preparing to become prime minister of Moldova.
