Who stays behind the communists in Moldova?

 Since I placed my first thoughts about Moldova after post-electoral violence in April, I was asked several times the same question: who has been and is still supporting such an anti-democratic communist regime in Moldova at the beginning of the new millennium? Whereas it seems that the whole world finally has realized that the implementation of the communist  ideology through stalinist methods is evil, leading to nations’ impoverishment and even genocide, the Moldovan communists have enjoyed for 8 years an open support from those who by origin were supposed to oppose it or at least ignore it: World Bank, IMF, USA, EU, and even NATO. Hundreds of millions of dollars poured into the country, technical assistance projects, official visits, public support and so on, helped the communist party of Moldova to hold tight the total power in Moldova. But as I wrote in my first truth, the result of their administration is devastating: Moldova has become officially the poorest country in Europe with absurdly high prices and cost of living, with half of the nation abroad in search for a better living, with corruption as a state phenomena, with open and unpunished abuses from police and security forces and  no democratic checks and balances in the country, and so on. In the end, the so called “coup d’etat”  staged by communists after April elections used to cover up laundering of an enormous amount of money from the state budget for repairing two official buildings destroyed by the communist provocateurs, has become the peak of political hypocrisy with criminal content.

Is the West so foolish and blind not to see this and not to realize that supporting such a regime would ultimately undermine the credibility of Western democratic values? Or is the West a part of it, I was asked?

The answer to this question is not so simple and it is a long story. 

Voronin came to absolute power in 2001 having extensively used the nostalgia feelings of the Moldovan population about “good old times” with cheap bread and sausage, free transportation, education and health care, with calls for Russian language to become the second official language and for joining the Russia-Byelorussia union. This populism has fallen on a fertile ground with most of population being victims of rapid shock transition to market economy. It is interesting to mention that Voronin, a general of Soviet militia, is said to have used extensive sponsorship from the criminal world, and until now such declarations from at least one of the ex Moldovan criminal authority hiding in Moscow, have not been legally disclaimed. 

The initial pro-Russian vector was so successful, that it almost ended with a Kozak memorandum, which would have established a long-term Russian military presence in Moldova. Though Voronin was the unique personality in the world to have met President Putin almost every month, the West was also embracing the communist dictator in Brussels and in Washington. Probably it was the right thing to do, first, in order not to throw immediately Moldova into the Russia-Byelorussia union and keep the door towards the West open, and secondly, in order not to admit a Byelorussian scenario where all Western institutes have been thrown out and the West practically remained without any leverage. In the end it proved to be right, when in 2003 on the eve of Putin’s arrival to Moldova to sign the Kozak memorandum, under unified Western pressure and some say, with the use of some compromising materials, Voronin has called Putin when that was already on his way to the airport and informed him that he refuses to sign the memorandum. That was an open slap onto Putin’s face and an unprecedented thing in interstate relations.

After that Voronin has turned as a weathercock to the West and has officially declared that the future of Moldova is in Europe. EU and the US have taken the bait so naively that they even helped Moldovan communists to get to power again in 2005. If we take into account the astonishing pro-communist supporting visits of Presidents Yuschenko of Ukraine, Saakashvili of Georgia and Basescu of Romania, who are all openly pro-Western, then it becomes obvious why it has been widely accepted that Voronin is supported by Europe and United States. 

In reality, however, we are as far from EU economic and democratic standards as we were in 2001. Nothing has been done for the country’s real modernization, there were no systemic economic and political reforms, and all in what Voronin succeeded was gathering enormous wealth for his family and other communist elite. A soft (as many would say), but quite an ugly dictatorship has evolved in the heart of Europe with Europe’s direct tacit assistance. Human rights violations, tortures and other abuses by the police and security forces, lawlessness have become a norm. Probably Voronin has realized that the West is not a complete fool, that is why a few years ago he started to actively court Putin again. And taking into account that Putin and Russia have again offered full support to Voronin before and during failed April elections, it may seem quite surprising that Voronin had succeeded in re-gaining Putin’s sympathies after a personal humiliation in 2003 and Medvedev’s support. But the explanation to this is the fact that for several years of trade wars between Moldova and Russia (after cancellation of Kozak memorandum) and very limited relationship, Russia either has failed to build up a new political bridgehead (especially with a new generation of politicians) in Moldova, or has not foreseen such a necessity (which is also a failure in the end). That is why Voronin and his communists have remained once again the only real counterpart for Russia in Moldova.

Thus, to a certain extend, I can say that President Voronin is a genius politician, since for 8 years he has ultimately managed to fool everyone: his own people, the United States, Europe and NATO, Romania and Russia. Russia’s continued support for communists is a big strategic mistake by not seeing that the Moldovan communists are vanishing fast, that they do not cost a dime without Voronin himself, that a new generation of politicians is emerging. Besides, it seems to be inconsistent with Medvedev’s new trend to promote and rely on younger generation.

But even with his great political intuition, given Voronin’s quite doubtful manners and rude language, his habits to see only enemies around, especially if they do not agree with him, could he dupe everyone around all by himself? Or there was something else, an invisible third force behind?

A very blunt declaration has caught my attention a few days ago. President of Pro-Europa NGO Boris Asarov has said at the press-conference In Kishinev that a few influential groups and companies from Israel are staying behind not only President Voronin, but also  behind the new project of the communists under the name “Democratic Party of Mr.Lupu”. The “project Lupu” (Marian Lupu was a prominent communist party member, a long-term Minister of Economy and a speaker of the Parliament for 4 years, who recently left the Communist Party and became an “anti-communist” at the head of the Democratic Party, which earlier had no popular support at all), he added, is also a project approved in Israel during the recent visit of Voronin together with Mr.Bilinkis (an entrepreneur in Moldova with an ambivalent reputation). Asarov stressed out, that as all projects generated by Voronin’s counsellor Tkaciuk, this one is also doomed to failure.

(It the context of “Lupu project” it is worth noting that the West seems to blindly swallowing this new Voronin’s bait again, as the project is getting an unprecedented support from Europe. Yes, Lupu was different from old communist patriarchy, but for all 8 years he was a very important and decisive part of it, and he still bears the responsibility for his deeds during that time, especially during the bloody events of April 7th, when he was just watching the events from his cabinet, with tacit approval. Whether it would be better for Europe to deal with other untarnished new leaders or with Lupu, who owes the communists too much and behind whom stay the same doubtful forces, very much depends not only on Lupu's sincere denouncing of communists but also on his true actions towards combatting the communist corruption and cleaning the communist mess,  remains to be thoroughly analyzed.)

Otherwise, for several years the Moldovan capital was full of rumors that Israel lobby is smartly guiding and using Voronin. These rumors were fed not only by the facts that such prominent and smart businessmen like Canadian Boris Birshtein or Samuil Roitman, the Moldova’s Honorary Consul in Tel-Aviv, have helped Voronin to come to power, and that two closest counsellors of the President are Jews, but also by the fact that the new Israeli Foreign Minsiter Avigdor Lieberman has Moldovan origins. Great - all parties and politicians have someone behind, so to say, the social-economic basis. The bad part of this particular case is that this “genius of politics” was not used for creation, but for enrichment of a narrow clan, whereas Moldova is left in shambles and divided not only in two territories but also in two generations, and with popular rumors that “Jews are to blame for all”. I hate stupid anti-Semitism and never accepted it, because it shows ignorance, lack of knowledge, absence of education and culture, and most often is used to cover someone's wrongdoings or inability to govern - that is why I do not like the reasons that cause it. It’s high time for all those powers “behind” to review the true long-term consequences of supporting the doubtful personalities in Moldova and start supporting the new trusted ones.

P.S. Latest news from Kishinev: yesterday one of the opposition leaders Mr.Urechean has announced that they have discovered that communists will receive from Israel several hundred thousands of specially printed ballots with invisible ink, which would activate themselves as pro-communist stamps/votes. If that is really true, the question is: would President Obama, or President Medvedev, or Jose Manual Barroso tolerate such a lie, and would they willingly shake hands with great illusionist Mr.Voronin?