{"id":443503,"date":"2017-02-26T23:32:39","date_gmt":"2017-02-26T23:32:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/?p=443503"},"modified":"2017-02-26T23:34:00","modified_gmt":"2017-02-26T23:34:00","slug":"dodon-undiplomatic-response-us-romania-ambassadors-blocked-moldova-participation-platinum-eagle-exercise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/dodon-undiplomatic-response-us-romania-ambassadors-blocked-moldova-participation-platinum-eagle-exercise\/","title":{"rendered":"Dodon’s “undiplomatic” response to US, Romania Ambassadors on why he blocked Moldova’s participation in Platinum Eagle exercise"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

The President of Moldova, Igor Dodon, apparently did not inform in advance the Romanian authorities about his decision to block the participation of Moldovan soldiers in\u00a0\u201cPlatinum Eagle\u201d exercise<\/a> at Sm\u00e2rdan, Romania. This can be deducted from the confidential\u00a0letter sent jointly by the Romanian Ambassador in Moldova, Daniel Ioni\u021b\u0103, and the US Ambassador, James D. Pettit, to the Moldovan Presidency, published by Independent.md<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In their letter, Ioni\u021b\u0103 and Pettit are expressing their concern about\u00a0the “unfriendly attitude” <\/em>shown by Dodon towards the\u00a0“substance, engagement and contributions”\u00a0<\/em>of the USA and Romania to the consolidation of institutional capacity of Moldova. The Ambassadors stress\u00a0that the decision to block the participation of the Moldovan Army at the joint exercise would not allow to ensure a necessary degree of training of the Moldovan troops, 80% dependable on the external acitivities.<\/p>\n

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Dodon responded in a less diplomatic way, claiming that the Presidency of Moldova\u00a0does not accept comments from the exterior or any interference in its activity or the made decisions.<\/em><\/p>\n

Referring to the Constitution, the sovereignty and independence of Moldova, Igor Dodon\u00a0demands Ambassadors to “not give lessons to the President of the Republic of Moldova in the future, especially when it comes to his constitutional attributions and other domains”.\u00a0<\/em>Rather impolitely than sarcastically, Dodon doubts whether the states the Ambassadors represent would claim the same thing about things like the deployment of troops:<\/p>\n

“I would like to see the reaction of the White House or Palatul Cotroceni to an eventual comment, like this one, of the the ambassadors of the Republic of Moldova at Washington or Bucure\u0219ti”<\/em>, says the Moldovan President.<\/p>\n

In the end, he reiterates the idea that Moldova is a sovereign and independent state that pledges for good relations with\u00a0absolutely all states of the world<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Dodon’s harsh response was criticized by his former Presidential counter-candidate, Maia Sandu, who declared that he damages the relations with the partners of Moldova:<\/p>\n

“The correspondence of Dodon with the US and Romania ambassadors demonstrates how damaging can his ignorance and arrogance be for the national interests of the Republic of Moldova. A small country like ours can promote its interests at regional and international level only through a smart external policy, not by showing personal frustrations and lack of respect towards the partners of the country. Moreover, he deprived the Moldovan soldiers of the possibility to participate at exercises. The regime Plahotniuc-Dodon continues to suppress the state institutions and to discredit us on external plan”,\u00a0<\/em>says Sandu in a Facebook post.<\/p>\n