In late December,
\nIgor Dodon was sworn in as President of the Republic of Moldova. The head of
\nthe former Soviet state with a predominantly Romanian-speaking population made
\na stormy entrance into his new office. Although in 2013 the Constitutional
\nCourt of Moldova ruled that the Romanian language was the official language of
\nthe Republic, Igor Dodon replaced it, on the site of the presidency, with the
\nso-called Moldovan Language. Also, he felt the urge to settle accounts with the
\nformer president of Romania Traian Basescu, by withdrawing his Moldovan citizenship,
\nonly two months after the latter had obtained it. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Also, as a continuation of the speeches held during the election
\ncampaign against the Association Agreement with the EU, he decided to remove
\nthe EU flag from the entrance of the Republic’s Palace in Chisinau. On the
\nother hand, in order to reconfirm his pro-Russian orientation, Igor Dodon chose
\nto pay to Moscow his first formal foreign visit as head of state, this being
\nthe first bilateral visit by a Moldovan leader to Russia in the past 9 years.
\nIgor Dodon’s main goal is to resume the strategic partnership with Russia, left
\naside during the term in office of his pro-European predecessor Nicolae
\nTimofti, to whom the rapprochement with the EU, with help from Romania, was a
\npriority.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
On Tuesday,
\npresident Dodon was received at the Kremlin by his Russian counterpart Vladimir
\nPutin, to whom he said that the Association Agreement between the Republic of
\nMoldova, concluded in 2014, could be revised or even cancelled after the next
\nparliamentary elections in Chisinau, provided they are won by the Socialists’
\nParty, whose leader he was until taking over the office of president. In Igor
\nDodon’s vision, the association agreement with the Europeans has not benefited
\nthe Republic of Moldova in any way. On the other hand, Chisinau would get
\nconsiderable advantages if part of the Eurasian Economic Union and president
\nDodon asked for Putin’s support for Moldova to get the status of observer. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Moscow, too, granted Igor Dodon’s visit a higher political status, which could
\nbe seen in the way in which the visit was organized, the list and format of
\ntalks. Vladimir Putin offered Dodon a historical map of the Republic of
\nMoldova, as it was back in the 18th century, which made Dodon state
\nthat half of the current territory of Romania is Moldovan. Pundits say that
\nDodon is in Moscow to approach issues that are of interest not to Moldova, but
\nto Moscow. The fact that the official delegation does not include any member of
\nthe Government is evidence enough that Igor Dodon is on his own and does not
\nact as a representative of the state. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Igor Dodon pays to Moscow his first foreign visit as president of the Republic of Moldova.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":109,"featured_media":71681,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[31769,38788,38787,33357],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-71680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-eurasian-economic-union","tag-moldova-the-eu-association-agreement","tag-moldovan-president-igor-dodon","tag-russian-president-vladimir-putin"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n