Language, Victory, Transnistria – Dodon moved heavy artillery against Sandu

Clearly disheartened by his unexpected loss in the first round of the presidential election, the current leader of Moldova, Igor Dodon, criticized rival Maia Sandu, touching on issues that he had tried not to touch upon previously.

Speaking to reporters today, Dodon spoke sharply on the problems of the Russian language, history and Transnistria, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.

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“The Russian language in the Republic of Moldova has always been the language of interethnic communication. It is very cynical to see how Maia Sandu, who removed the Russian language from the school curriculum, now began to speak Russian and publish newspapers and leaflets in Russian. Suddenly she remembered that in Moldova one third of the population is Russian-speaking. Where were you until now, when the Russian language was banned, when Russian groups and schools were destroyed? Now you need the voice of Russian speakers. And you remembered them. This is cynical, this is vile,” Dodon said.

He recalled that he always spoke in two languages, even from the UN rostrum.

“I consider myself a descendant of the winners in the Republic of Moldova. May 9 is Victory Day was, is and will be in our country. And August 24 is the day of the liberation of Moldova from the Nazis. But not for Maia Sandu and her team. She considers May 9 not Victory Day, but declares August 23 “a day of mourning for victims of the totalitarian regime.” And he announces that if, God forbid, he becomes president, he will not allow our soldiers to participate in the Victory Parade on Red Square in Moscow. Do we need such leaders? – said Dodon.

He also accused Sandu of considering the residents of Transnistria and Gagauzia to be separatists, recalling incidents on election day when opposition party members prevented Transnistrians from voting.

“We saw this two days ago. With such statements, Maia Sandu can bring the situation in the country to new conflicts, like in the early 90s. There were also Nazis who made such statements. What did this lead to, remind you? Do you want destabilization in the Republic of Moldova again?” – said Dodon.

He demanded that the prosecutor's office open criminal cases against those who prevented Pridnestrovians from voting.

“This is a very dangerous precedent. Imagine that people come who do not agree with the way residents of a village in the central zone of Moldova vote and block polling stations. What will happen then? We need to open criminal cases, like 10 years ago, when the authorities of the so-called Transnistria blocked access to our polling stations. As president, I will be able to further ensure ethnic peace and tranquility and further constructive dialogue with both Pridnestrovie and Gagauzia,” Dodon said.

Immediately after the results of the first round were announced, Dodon’s advisers criticized his political strategists, who imposed the neutral tone of the campaign on the president.

“One of the lessons is that “neutrality” and “don’t force things up” are good on international platforms. Doesn't work in Moldova. Bye. Will we wait or change tactics?” wrote presidential aide Ernest Vardanyan.

“Neutral” and reluctance to escalate are perceived as weakness and unwillingness to show teeth. And you need to show your teeth. Stop being kind,” wrote journalist Elena Levitskaya-Pakhomova.

However, pro-Russian voters in Moldova have something to show for Dodon. It was under him that in 2018 the constitutional court declared the law “On the functioning of languages ​​on the territory of the MSSR”, in which the Russian language was recognized as a language of interethnic communication, “outdated”. Such a court decision is “equivalent to its reversal.”

In June, the Moldovan parliament did not put on the agenda a bill to lift restrictions on the retransmission of Russian television programs, so as not to split the ruling coalition. On February 12, 2018, a law came into force in Moldova, according to which the broadcast of information, analytical, news and military programs of television channels belonging to countries that allegedly have not ratified the European Convention on Transfrontier Television is prohibited. Russian TV channels fell under this restriction.