Important
First week of Dodon: What did the new President of Moldova do in his first 7 days?
Igor Dodon was elected by 834081 people, or 52,11%, as President of Moldova, on November 13th.
Before his inauguration as President on December 23rd, Igor Dodon promised quite a lot of things in the electoral campaign and in the period between his election and the date of inauguration. Dodon declared he would to take urgent action regarding different (more or less important) problems, including the fight against the “oligarchic regime”, once elected:
–to sign decrees on investigating of the stolen billion and not putting it as state payment, on reestablishing the economical relations with Russia and on combating unionist, anti-state actions;
-to be “the President of those who want closer ties to the EU and those who want closer ties to Russia”;
–to revoke the Moldovan citizenship of Romanian ex-President Traian Băsescu;
–to repeat the contest for the position of Prosecutor General of Moldova and to dismiss the appointed Prosecutor General, Eduard Harunjen;
–to block some “antisocial” reforms of the current government, the reform of the pensioning system, including the raise of pensioning age and the opening of a NATO office.
Dodon previously accused his former counter-candidate, Maia Sandu, for blocking his inauguration and preventing him from entering the job by submitting complaints on the electoral frauds to the Central Electoral Commission and the Constitutional Court.
Now, since Dodon is President by himself, let’s see how did President Igor Dodon fulfill his promises of “urgent actions” by looking at his actions in the first week of his Presidential mandate.
Parliament speaker Andrian Candu, President Igor Dodon and PM Pavel Filip on December 23rd
-On December 23rd, Igor Dodon was inaugurated as President of the Republic of Moldova. The ceremony took place at the Palace of the Republic in the center of Chișinău. Dodon took oath of office, but not before holding a speech, supposed to be a “unity speech” in front of his supporters and counter-protesters.
Right after his inauguration, Dodon had several meetings with different visiting officials, like the Deputy Prime-Minister of Belarus Mihail Rusyi, head of the French National Front in the European Parliament Eduard Ferrand, Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia, Shavarsh Kocharyan, but also some priests from Athos mountain Orthodox monastery and the Russian artist Gennady Hazanov.
Dodon beside his former Socialist deputies and Gagauzia leader Irina Vlah, at the meeting with Belarus Deputy PM Rusyi
The night after his inauguration, Moldova President Igor Dodon had a meeting with the Russia Deputy Prime-Minister, Dmitry Rogozin, at Chișinău at the Presidential residency at 3AM on 24 of December.
Dodon and Rogozin after a meeting at 4AM
Dodon and Rogozin discussed the current state of the bilateral relations and the perspectives of the Transnistrian conflict settlement. The parties also planned the future topics of discussion at the next meeting of Dodon with Russia President Vladimir Putin. They scheduled the meeting between Dodon and Putin for 17 December 2017.
-On Saturday, December 24th, Dodon’s Presidential staff did a controversial change to the website of the institution by replacing the sign “RO”, corresponding to Romanian language, to “MD”, probably the “Moldovan language” mentioned by Dodon in his CV.
Before December 24th:
On the same Saturday, Dodon called some Orthodox priests to “baptise” his new workplace.
-On December 25th, Dodon wished Merry Christmas to the citizens of Moldova who celebrate it according to the “new style”, at the same time stressing the importance of mutual understanding despite “different opinions, holidays and values”.
On the same day, Dodon expressed his condolences to Russia, where a TU-154 airplane crash caused the death of 92 people.
Later, the new President posted several pictures on his Facebook page about his shopping activity at the Central Market in Chișinău.
Throughout the day of December 25th, several people passing by the Presidential residency of Moldova observed that the flag of the European Union disappeared from the front of the building, leaving the Moldovan flag alone. This took place just in the second day of Igor Dodon’s Presidential mandate.
-On Monday, December 26th, the empty spot was filled with another Moldovan flag.
Later, several Liberal deputies, as a sign of protest, put back an EU flag aside the Moldovan one.
Ion Ceban, Dodon’s spokesperson, declared that the current President will respect the law on the State Flag of the Republic of Moldova and the corresponding Government decisions. Ceban stressed that the building of the Presidency will have only the flag of the Republic of Moldova in the front.
On the second day after the Liberals’ protest, the spot for the second flag was completely taken down from the front of the President residency.
-On December 26th, the new President of Moldova, Igor Dodon, presented his Presidential staff containing 9 persons appointed for 10 positions.
Some features of the staff changed: for example, the new position of foreign policy counselor lacks the coverage of the European Integration policy in its name.
On the same day, President Dodon expressed his sincere condolences on the death of the Moldovan actor Mihai Curăgău.
Later, Dodon met with the Prime-Minister of Moldova, Pavel Filip, to share opinions on the social and economic situation in the country.
In the evening, President Dodon took part at În Profunzime talk show at ProTV, where he declared that he is not against the scholarship program of Romania for Moldovans students, but, to the opposite, he encouraged both Romania and Russia to increase the number of scholarships for Moldovans.
-On December 27th, the President of Moldova, Igor Dodon, signed the decree on the dismissal of the Defense Minister Anatol Șalaru.
Dodon motivated the dismissal with the fact that Șalaru “flirted” with NATO, even if Moldova is a neutral state, he favored and helped to bring the American military vehicles in the center of Chișinău, pledged for the Union of Moldova with Romania, and replaced several security and army professionals with Liberal Party proxies. Moreover, Șalaru would be accused for affecting the budget of the Defense Ministry by dubious transactions with munitions and goods.
Dodon thanked the Liberal leader Mihai Ghimpu for the request to dismiss Șalaru and suggested to send more requests like this one for other Liberal Ministers.
Later that day, Dodon had a diplomatic talk with the Russian Ambassador Farit Muhametshin who, in his turn, offered the congratulation letters from the Russian President Vladimir Putin and the PM Dmitry Medvedev.
Dodon proposed that, during his visit at Moscow, he would have a meeting with the Moldovan students and he would hold a guest lecture at the Moscow State University.
On the same day, Dodon had a dialogue with the Socialist caucus from the Moldovan Parliament, which he was part of before. Dodon and his former fellows agreed on continuing to fight for preliminary Parliamentary elections, since the President will have direct support from the Socialists in the Parliament.
Later, the President discussed the results of local legislative elections in Gagauzia with its bashkan, Irina Vlah. Dodon congratulated Gagauzia on its 22nd birthday as autonomy, but wished for further cooperation with the Executive Committee and People’s Assembly of the region.
-On December 28th, together with the counselor for Reintegration, Vasile Șova, and foreign policy counselor, Andrei Neguța, Dodon had a work meeting on the Transnistrian conflict settlement, focusing on the future visit in the region.
Not less important, Igor Dodon signed on Tuesday a legislative initiative on cancelling the law on the state obligations issued in November 2014 and April 2015 for the payment to the National Bank of Moldova of loans unpaid back by the three failed banks: Banca de Economii, Banca Socială, Unibank.
Dodon and his counselor on institutional relations and economy
According to Dodon, the measure of reimbursing the “stolen billions” from the banking sector is putting a burden on the shoulders of the citizens. Dodon reiterates his position that the stolen billions should be paid back by those who participated in the frauds, voted for or knew about them, but preferred to keep silent, the state officials and those responsible from financial-banking institutions.
In his decree, Dodon wants the Parliament to examine his initiative and cancel the law on the billion payment. Moreover, the new President thinks that there are other measures in this context, stressing that he is “against the payment from the accounts of the current and future generations”.
-On December 29th, President Dodon had three diplomatic meetings. First one was with Turkey Ambassador Hulusi Kılıç, who announced about the intention of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to visit Moldova in May 2017.
With the EU Ambassador Pirkka Tapiola, Dodon talked on aspects of collaboration between Moldova and EU, EU member states. Dodon appreciated the financial and political support given by the European Union to Moldova.
The officials agreed on details regarding Dodon’s visit to Brussels at the end of January and beginning of February 2017.
The last meeting of Dodon with the Azerbaijan Ambassador, Gudsi Dursi oglu Osmanov, was mainly focused on topics of Moldo-Azeri relations with emphasis on the necessity to deepen and extend the cooperation.
During the evening talk show Acces Direct at NTV Moldova, Dodon declared that he would open an account for external funds meant for the reconstruction of the original Presidency building, damaged during the 7 April protests in 2009.
President Dodon also mentioned that he would postpone the revoking of the Moldovan citizenship from the former Romania President Traian Băsescu until after New Year’s Eve, just not to “upset” Băsescu.
-On December 30th, Moldova’s President, Igor Dodon, awarded four mothers with multiple children.
As a sign of high appreciation of the merits in consolidating the institution of the family and for the substantial contributions to the creation of a socially responsible family, Dodon offered the Order of the Republic to Lidia Tertiuc from Nisporeni, mother of eleven children and tutor of six other children, Valentina Vîhodeț from Doina, Cahul, mother of seventeen children; and the Honor Order to Ecaterina Mealdzin from Basarabeasca, mother of twelve children and Adela Robu from Tabani, Briceni, mother of thirteen children.
The President stressed that he chose to award this kind of persons in order to encourage and support the families with more children, in the context of serious demographic problem. Dodon emphasized the need of national programs for recovering the trust of citizens in the country and for re-balancing the negative demographic trend.
These were Dodon’s first awards offered as President.
Such were the first seven days of President Igor Dodon. It was rather obvious than unexpected that Dodon would not fulfill almost of any his promises to fight the “oligarchic regime” and the status-quo in Moldova, since he is part of the old political establishment.
Important
#WorldForUkraine – a map that shows the magnitude of the world’s actions against Russian aggression
The international community and volunteers from all over te world have launched #WorldForUkraine as a platform that shows the magnitude of the world’s actions against the Russian aggression. In a digital world – it is an interactive map of public support of Ukrainians under the hashtag #WorldForUkraine – rallies, flash mobs, protests around the world. In the physical dimension – it is your opportunity to take to the streets and declare: “No to Putin’s aggression, no to war.”
„Today, along with the political and military support, emotional connection with the civilized world and truthful information are extremely important for Ukraine. The power to do it is in your hands. Join the #WorldForUkraine project and contribute to the victorious battle against the bloodshed inflicted on Ukraine by the aggression of the Russian Federation”, says the „about the project” section of the platform.
Go to the streets — Tell people — Connect and Unite — Become POWERFUL
Volunteers have launched #WorldForUkraine as a platform that shows the magnitude of the world’s actions against Russian aggression. In digital world – it is an INTERACTIVE MAP of public support of Ukrainians worldforukraine.net under the hashtag #WorldForUkraine – rallies, flash mobs, protests around the world. In the physical dimension – it is your opportunity to take to the streets and declare: “No to Putin’s aggression, no to war.” There you may find information about past and future rallies in your city in support of Ukraine. This is a permanent platform for Ukrainian diaspora and people all over the world concerned about the situation in Ukraine.
So here’s a couple of things you could do yourself to help:
* if there is a political rally in your city, then participate in it and write about it on social media with geolocation and the hashtag #WorldForUkraine
* if there are no rallies nearby, organize one in support of Ukraine yourself, write about it on social media with geolocation adding the hashtag #WorldForUkraine
The map will add information about gathering by #WorldForUkraine AUTOMATICALLY
Your voice now stronger THAN ever
All rallies are already here: https://worldforukraine.net
Important
How is Moldova managing the big influx of Ukrainian refugees? The authorities’ plan, explained
From 24th to 28th of February, 71 359 Ukrainian citizens entered the territory of Republic of Moldova. 33 173 of them left the country. As of this moment, there are 38 186 Ukrainian citizens in Moldova, who have arrived over the past 100 hours.
The Moldovan people and authorities have organized themselves quickly from the first day of war between Russia and Ukraine. However, in the event of a prolonged armed conflict and a continuous influx of Ukrainian refugees, the efforts and donations need to be efficiently managed. Thus, we inquired about Moldova’s long-term plan and the state’s capacity to receive, host, and treat a bigger number of refugees.
On February 26th, the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of Moldova approved the Regulation of organization and functioning of the temporary Placement Center for refugees and the staffing and expenditure rules. According to the Regulation, the Centers will have the capacity of temporary hosting and feeding at least 20 persons, for a maximum of 3 months, with the possibility of extending this period. The Centers will also offer legal, social, psychological, and primary medical consultations to the refugees. The Center’s activity will be financed from budget allocations, under Article 19 of Provision no. 1 of the Exceptional Situations Commission from February 24th, 2022, and from other sources of funding that do not contravene applicable law.
The Ministry of Inner Affairs and the Government of Moldova facilitated the organization of the volunteers’ group “Moldova for Peace”. Its purpose is to receive, offer assistance and accommodation to the Ukrainian refugees. The group is still working on creating a structure, registering and contacting volunteers, etc. It does not activate under a legal umbrella.
Lilia Nenescu, one of the “Moldova for Peace” volunteers, said that the group consists of over 20 people. Other 1700 registered to volunteer by filling in this form, which is still available. The group consists of several departments:
The volunteers’ department. Its members act as fixers: they’re responsible for connecting the people in need of assistance with the appropriate department. Some of the volunteers are located in the customs points. “The Ministry of Inner Affairs sends us every day the list of the customs points where our assistance is needed, and we mobilize the volunteers”, says Lilia Nenescu.
The Goods Department manages all the goods donated by the Moldavian citizens. The donations are separated into categories: non-perishable foods and non-food supplies. The volunteers of this department sort the goods into packages to be distributed.
The Government intends to collect all the donations in four locations. The National Agency for Food Safety and the National Agency for Public Health will ensure mechanisms to confirm that all the deposited goods comply with safety and quality regulations.
The Service Department operates in 4 directions and needs the volunteer involvement of specialists in psychology, legal assistance (the majority of the refugees only have Ukrainian ID and birth certificates of their children); medical assistance; translation (a part of the refugees are not Ukrainian citizens).
According to Elena Mudrîi, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Health, so far there is no data about the number of Covid-19 positive refugees. She only mentioned two cases that needed outpatient medical assistance: a pregnant woman and the mother of a 4-day-old child.
The Accommodation Department. The volunteers are waiting for the centralized and updated information from the Ministry of Labor about the institutions offering accommodation, besides the houses offered by individuals.
The Transport Department consists of drivers organized in groups. They receive notifications about the number of people who need transportation from the customs points to the asylum centers for refugees.
The municipal authorities of Chișinău announced that the Ukrainian children refugees from the capital city will be enrolled in educational institutions. The authorities also intend to create Day-Care Centers for children, where they will be engaged in educational activities and will receive psychological assistance. Besides, the refugees from the municipal temporary accommodation centers receive individual and group counseling.
In addition to this effort, a group of volunteers consisting of Ana Gurău, Ana Popapa, and Andrei Lutenco developed, with the help of Cristian Coșneanu, the UArefugees platform, synchronized with the responses from this form. On the first day, 943 people offered their help using the form, and 110 people asked for help. According to Anna Gurău, the volunteers communicate with the Government in order to update the platform with the missing data.
Translation from Romanian by Natalia Graur
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
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