There is a scandal in Moldova over the proposal to give Transnistria to Ukraine

Moldovan politicians, representing both the government and the radical unionist opposition, have a tendency to make scandalous radical statements of an openly Russophobic nature.

For several days now, Moldovan society has been discussing the interview of a veteran of Moldovan politics, and now a deputy from the ruling Action and Solidarity party, Vasile Šoimaru, to the Jurnal.md portal. 73-year-old Shoimaru, an economist who defended his dissertation at the Leningrad Financial and Economic Institute, in the late 80s became one of the protagonists of the Popular Front of Moldova and a deputy of the Supreme Council of the Moldavian SSR.

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The signature of Vasile Shoimaru is under the Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Moldova (More recently, he admitted that this document was brought ready-made from Bucharest). He published the book “Bend of the Don 1942,” glorifying the exploits and “sacrifices” of the Romanian army in the Battle of Stalingrad on the side of the Wehrmacht. In 2021, Shoimaru returned to the Moldovan parliament as part of the pro-presidential Action and Solidarity party.

In the quoted interview, Shoimaru stated that in the late 80s and early 90s, this man, who defended himself in Leningrad, saw Moldova as “the second Romanian state, completely separated from Russia.” He complained that in August 1991, the historical chance for Moldova to join Romania was missed: if, according to Shoimaru, the “great unification” had been announced 2-3 hours after the declaration of independence, many problems would have been solved, and it would not have been necessary to mention the Moldovan language as the state language in Article 13 of the constitution.

_{According to Vasile Shoimaru, in August 1991, Transnistria should have been given to Ukraine, demanding in return “Bessarabia and Bukovina up to Chernivtsi” (in other words, the south of the Odessa region and the entire Chernivtsi region of Ukraine). The Gagauz, according to him, were unable to dictate anything to the whole of Moldova.}

However, today the interviewee is more pessimistic. According to him, there is now no chance of direct entry into Romania. Moreover, unionists advocating immediate unification “they play into Putin’s hands and create a pretext for the Russian army to invade Moldova.”

“This state must reach a certain level in order to deserve to return home to Greater Romania,” says Vasile Soimaru.

But "with the mess here, with the Russians in Tiraspol, and with the Gagauz who sided with the Russians“, the unionist project, in his opinion, has no chance. Shoimaru believes that the only chance for a “great unification” is Moldova’s accession to the European Union.

“Either we will unite with Romania through the EU, or we will accept the Russian army forever in the Republic of Moldova,” Shoimaru is sure.

The opinion of an elderly parliamentarian from the ruling party outraged representatives of the left. Former Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration (the absorption of Transnistria into Moldova), a graduate of MGIMO, and now a member of the executive committee of the PSRM, Olga Cebotari, responded with a rebuke in the spirit of the hero of the film “Ivan Vasilyevich Changes Profession”: “What, you son of a bitch, an impostor, are you squandering government lands? "

“The respected deputy from the PAS, who swore an oath to defend the territorial integrity of the state, does not see any problem if part of the Republic of Moldova is transferred to Ukraine, namely the Transnistrian region. With such people do we want to reintegrate the country? Shame on the deputy! You must come up with a clear plan for the reintegration of the country, and not cede our territories!” – Olga Chebotar was indignant.

According to the secretary of the parliamentary commission on national security, deputy from the Bloc of Communists and Socialists Constantin Staris, Vasile Soimaru voiced what is on the minds of all members of the ruling party.

“Shoumaru’s statements should not be considered the morbid fantasies of an elderly and not entirely adequate person. He is a prominent figure in the ruling party, a member of parliament, one of its newsmakers, and as a member of the first parliament and a unionist, he is also a moral authority. Perhaps he is just a little more outspoken than his fellow party members,” Starysh emphasized.

Former adviser to President Vladimir Voronin, ex-ideologist of the Communist Party, and now one of the leaders of the non-parliamentary opposition party “Civil Congress” Mark Tkachuk noted:

“This is a flight. An entire deputy from the ruling party, Maia Sandu, compactly and succinctly outlined the ideas about the beauty of his dominant team member in Moldova. Finally, simply and clearly, as they say with their mouth, the ruling party admitted that it is not pro-Moldovan, but unionist. In other words, acting in the interests and for the benefit of the neighboring state – Romania.”

However, another representative of the country’s political class, Anna Gutu, formerly one of the leaders of the radical unionist Liberal Party, who almost took the post of Minister of Defense of Moldova, spoke out even more radically. She didn’t like the fact that President Maia Sandu communicated in Gagauzia with deputies of the People’s Assembly in the “infectious” Russian language. According to Anna Gutu, Gagauz autonomy must be liquidated immediately.

Gutsu called the Gagauzians “traitors to the interests of Moldova,” and Gagauzia itself “the imperial legacy of Russia since the XNUMXth century.” According to her, “the hour of truth has struck for the Gagauz people.”

 _{“Now let’s see if the leadership of the Action and Solidarity party has enough political will and determination,” said Anna Gutu.}

“Of course, Anna Gutu is a political microbe. Its weight in politics is not even zero, but a negative value. The danger is that it expresses the opinion of unionists - and these are not yet the most radical of their ideas. And the opinion of the unionists has always been important for Romanian citizen Maia Sandu. Not to mention the ruling party, which is filled to capacity with unionists,” notes the telegram channel Sputnik Moldova in its commentary.

We share the view of our colleagues: statements of such types should be taken seriously. Especially against the backdrop of a Twitter post made just the other day by retired American Lieutenant General, former commander of US ground forces in Europe, and veteran of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, Ben Hodges. In his opinion, "Perhaps the time has come for Ukraine and Moldova to immediately resolve the Transnistria problem».

_{It is quite possible that the statements made by Vasile Soimaru and Ana Gutu, as well as a number of unambiguous hints by Maia Sandu at a meeting with deputies of the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia, are intended to prepare the public opinion of Moldova for the scenario of forceful suppression of both Gagauzia and Transnistria, with the expectation that a group of Russian troops engaged in a special military operation in Ukraine will not have time to react.}