The famous Russian pop singer Philip Kirkorov posted a video online in which he campaigns for one of the candidates for the post of Bashkan of Gagauzia, Evgenia Gutsul. She was nominated by the positional party “Shor”, named after its leader and creator - criminal oligarch and husband of singer Jasmine Ilan Shor. In 2015-2019, Shor was the mayor of the Moldovan city of Orhei.
“Gagauzia, I warmly welcome you. Dear friends, I assure you that I am with you and love you very much. I am glad that this wonderful region can today choose the path of development together with our wonderful Zhenya - Evgenia Gutsul. She is part of a professional team led by my friend Ilan Shor, in whom I believe. I urge you to trust his managerial abilities, which can turn Gagauzia into a land of dreams. I was in Orhei and saw what beauty he created there. I’m sure that he will do the same with you,” Kirkorov said.
The Central Election Commission of Moldova registered 8 candidates for the elections of the Gagauz Bashkan, of which only one represents the interests of the pro-Western Moldovan President Maia Sandu, and the rest are opposition forces. Gagauzia is known for its pro-Russian sentiments.
In Chisinau, Kirkorov’s participation in the campaign was skeptical.
“Asking an ethnic Bulgarian, and even one of dubious gender appearance, to campaign in Gagauzia is tantamount to admitting misunderstanding and ignorance of the region,” says political scientist Sergei Manastyrly.
“Kirkorov is campaigning for a candidate from the Shor party, but do the lawyers from the Shor party remember that, according to Moldovan legislation, foreign citizens are prohibited from campaigning for Moldovan politicians or speaking at election events. Hutsul gave a reason to remove herself from the elections,” political scientist Alexander Korinenko wrote in his tg channel.
“A special or accidental leak of your undoubtedly hopeless candidate? I’m betting on horse number one,” TV journalist Elena Pakhomova agrees with him.
Last July, Kirkorov was not allowed into Moldova, where he was traveling to speak at trial in defense of Shor’s comrade-in-arms Marina Tauber.