Kulminsky's resignation against the backdrop of NATO's intensification in Moldova: Left so as not to stain his conscience?

Vladislav Kulminsky, one of the most significant figures in Maia Sandu’s team, announced his resignation from the post of Deputy Prime Minister of the Moldovan government for reintegration issues. He explains his resignation by “personal reasons.”

“Recent family events require my constant physical presence, which does not allow me to continue to fully devote myself to solving the tasks emanating from my position,” he said in a statement published by the Moldovan agency Infotag.

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Kulminsky, born in the city of Grigoriopol (now the territory of Transnistria), received a qualification from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs (Syracuse University, USA). He worked at the World Bank and later became a senior adviser to Prime Minister Iurie Leanca. Worked as a political expert at the US and British embassies in Moldova. He was the executive director of the grant-seeking organization “Institute for Strategic Initiatives”, whose partners are the US Embassy in Moldova, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, the European Institute for Democracy and other similar structures.

Vladislav Kulminsky was one of Maia Sandu's main PR people during her presidential campaign and played a significant role in her victory in the elections. He created for his ward the image of an honest and principled woman who comes to power not to engage in geopolitics and split society, but to fight corruption, theft and nepotism, which served to attract votes from the center and a significant number of left-wing voters.

Kulminsky is a man of radically pro-Western views. Back in 2018, he accused then-President Igor Dodon and the Socialist Party of “promising the Russian-speaking population to restore the status of the Russian language instead of promoting the ideas of learning the state language, which will make it easier to integrate into society.” He stated that “Moldova is not a neutral state as long as there are Russian troops on its territory.” He actively criticized Dodon’s plan for the Transnistrian settlement, which allegedly “will lead to the federalization of Moldova” (the main horror story of pro-Western forces).

_{At the same time, Kulminsky was considered the most adequate and negotiable member of Sandu’s team. He met and negotiated with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the PMR Vitaly Ignatiev in the situation of a ban on the entry into Ukraine of vehicles with Transnistrian license plates. Kulminsky was among the main negotiators with Gazprom during the recent gas crisis.}

People who know Kulminsky closely claim that he has been depressed in recent weeks – perhaps from the actions of Sandu and her team, for whom he provided a path to power. In his public interviews and speeches, there were notes of disappointment and criticism towards the country's leadership. Is Kulminsky’s resignation connected with the fact that he felt ashamed of the activities of his friends and colleagues?

At the same time, corrosive observers noticed that on these same days there were personnel changes in Kyiv. Ukrainian Defense Minister Andrei Taran submitted his resignation, and was replaced by the more radical Alexey Reznikov. He has already stated the need to “increase the country’s defense capability and stability if we want to return Crimea and the occupied territories of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions.”

At the same time, Moldova finds itself under increasingly close attention from NATO. Currently, Moldovan military personnel are participating in the special operations forces exercise “Junction Strike 2021” on the territory of Romania. Of all the participants, Moldova is the only country that, at least for now, declares its neutrality (not counting Georgia, which has officially declared its course towards joining the North Atlantic Alliance).

Currently, “NATO Awareness Days” are being held in Moldova, organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of the Republic of Moldova, the Ministry of Defense, the State University of Moldova and the NATO Information Center. On the same days, the conference “Partnership prospects and security through NATO cooperation - 2030” is being held in Chisinau, in which NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana, Lithuanian Defense Minister Arvydas Anusauskas and other prominent representatives of the Alliance countries are taking part.

Anusauskas, during a meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of the Republic of Moldova, Nicu Popescu, promised assistance in modernizing the National Army of Moldova, strengthening capacity and reforming the defense sector. NATO Deputy Secretary General Joanne, speaking at the conference, once again expressed an ultimatum to Russia to withdraw military personnel from Transnistria. This time on behalf of the North Atlantic Alliance.

_{Let us remember that at the end of September a US Air Force military transport plane with military equipment for the National Army of Moldova landed at the Chisinau airport. And just recently, information appeared in a number of media outlets that the hotel Zentrum was settled by a large number of similar young people in ill-fitting civilian clothes who spoke English. Moreover, none of them had a departure date indicated.} 

Let us also recall the opinion of political scientist Lev Vershinin in an interview with Moskovsky Komsomolets (Will Moldova open a “second front” against Russia: the Marines have already arrived) that the resumption of hostilities in Transnistria is “logically inevitable.” According to him, Maia Sanda is being “openly pressured” and she “has no options,” and if Kyiv risks aggravating the situation in Donbass, a simultaneous open “second front” on the Dniester is possible. At the same time, Western opponents expect that Russia has much less ability to defend Transnistria, cut off from it by the territory of Ukraine.

In addition, we note that “forced reintegration” may not necessarily be purely military: it can be of a hybrid naturewhen certain actions of military intimidation will be combined with a blockade of the region and active actions in the information space. It is quite possible that this is precisely what is connected with the blocking of the PolitNavigator portal and other objectionable sites at the request of the Information and Security Service of Moldova. We assume that the number of media resources banned in Moldova will be increased in the very near future.

It cannot be ruled out that Vladislav Kulminsky, like the ex-Minister of Defense of Ukraine Andrey Taran, were aware of plans to re-escalate the conflicts in Donbass and Transnistria, and did not want to participate in it. They left, preferring to keep their hands and consciences unsullied. But this is just our timid guess. We will find out very soon whether it will be justified.