Author’s Note: I’ve been a long time lurker and rare poster on Twitter in the past, but in 2023 I’m trying to change that. Going forward I’ll be sharing interesting articles and short commentaries focused on the latest news in Moldova. If you’re interested follow me on twitter here.
War and Moldovan Security
In the past week Russian forces have continued their long range bombardment of Ukrainian critical infrastructure and civilian targets. In one strike, a Russian Kh-22 missile, designed as a long range anti-ship missile to destroy aircraft carriers, struck a 9 story residential apartment building in Dnipro killing at least 35 people and leaving 400 homeless.
During the barrage against targets all across Ukraine, another stray, or shot-down missile, landed in Moldova near the town of Briceni. While the missile landed in a farm field, it was found to have its warhead intact and Moldovan army sappers had to be called in to destroy it in a controlled explosion. Responding to the incident Prime Minister Gavrilita said she was
“Outraged by the lack of respect for the sovereignty of Moldova. The airspace was again violated today, and the remnants of a rocket fell in the vicinity of the village of Larga in the Briceni district,”
The Prime Minister and President made further statements decrying Russian war cries in Ukraine.
In another reminder of just how close the war is, police responded to a call where someone found a grenade launcher and bag of ammunition discarded on the side of the road near Briceni. It is unclear how a grenade launcher came to be in Moldova or why it was thrown on the side of the road - police are investigating.
In light of the ongoing security concerns, the Moldovan army received its first publicly reported donations of military equipment in the form of 3 Piranha APCs from Germany. 16 more units are expected in the coming months. The APCs are expected to be deployed with Moldova’s 22nd Peacekeeping Battalion which has already trained on the equipment during their ongoing posting to Kosovo.
The “authorities” in Transnistria objected the the new equipment saying:
"The militarization and arming of Moldova is not a good and constructive solution. Nothing good comes of this kind of action. This is evidenced by world experience,”
Image from Moldovan Ministry of Defense
Modernizing and equipping the Moldovan army has a very long way to go however. In its just released yearly ranking of military strength, the Global Firepower Index placed Moldova at 143 of 145 countries globally with militaries.
International Affairs
This week the government confirmed that the next meeting of the European Political Community EPC will be held in Chisinau on June 1st. The EPC is a new initiative started by French President Emmanuel Macron as a way to bring together EU countries and non-EU partner countries in the context of the war. 47 heads of state and government are expected to attend the meeting in Chisinau. In a press release the Presidential Administration said:
"The leaders meeting in Chisinau will discuss joint efforts for peace, in the context of the war in Ukraine and related crises, the defense of democracy, the consolidation of energy security and the resilience of European states",
The Romanian press has taken quite an interest in President Sandu’s travels recently with lots of writing and speculation about a holiday the Moldovan president took in a small Romanian town. Further, a Romanian paper published a comparison of the travels of President Sandu and Romanian President Iohannis. Last year Sandu made 19 trips abroad spending a total of 25,000 euros in government spending. Iohanis made 21 trips spending 3.32 million euros in the process. President Sandu’s habit of traveling light, flying economy, and bringing few staff has caught the attention of the Romanian public who seem to be questioning their own government’s spending habits.
This week, President Sandu is traveling to the World Economic Forum at Davos.
Politics - Cabinet Shakeups
The new year has started with a number of announced changes in the cabinet and within senior advisors to the government and president. The most important change was the resignation last week of Marcel Spatari, Minister of Labor and Social Protection. Minister Spatari was considered among the most popular ministers in government, largely because he oversaw social programs such as energy subsidies and crisis related compensation programs. He resigned for personal reasons with reporting suggesting that he wanted to be closer to his family who live in Bucharest. When resigning, the Minister noted various lessons he learned while serving in government and explained that while things are improving there is a long road ahead for Moldova to have a true European labor and social safety system. Particularly he noted that while Moldova spends around 15% of GDP on social programs the average EU nation spends 20-30%.
The minister also had some telling comments about the Ministry of Finance which I unpack on a twitter thread here.
Prime Minister Gavrilita appointed Alexei Buza as the new Minister of Labor and Social Protection. His background is primarily in the NGO sector where he led initiatives based around equal rights, especially gender equality.
An additional cabinet shakeup is planned for the near future as Prime Minister Gavrilita announced the creation of a new “Ministry of Energy.” Currently the Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Development, led by Minister Andrei Spinu, has taking the lead on dealing with Moldova’s energy infrastructure and negotiations with partners. The exact scope of the new ministry has not been decided yet and it will be interesting to watch just how this new ministry is carved out of the existing structure - and who will lead it.
Presidential Administration Shakeup
The Presidential Administration also underwent an internal reshuffle with former economic and financial advisor Veaceslav Negruta being appointed as the new Secretary General of the Presidential Administration. The former Secretary General Cristina Gherasimov will move to advisor on foreign policy and EU integration. Interestingly, a former Democratic Party (PDM) MP Stella Jantuan will come on as political advisor. To date, the PAS government has been extremely reluctant to work with anyone associated with former governments, especially Plahotniuc’s Democrats. Commentators have noted that this may mark a more pragmatic approach as PAS continues to struggle to fill positions with capable and experienced civil servants.
Other Political Updates
Here is a short roundup of other important political and political / economic updates from Moldova this week:
Romanian Classes in Gagauzia: Irina Vlah, Bashkhan of Gagauzia, announced that the autonomous region will begin rolling out Romanian language classes in schools. The plan is to begin with classes for students and then expand to state sponsored adult education classes. She noted:
“A multilingual education program is being introduced in 27 schools and all kindergartens in Gagauzia. But not only our children, but also teachers want to speak Romanian,”
This program is one of Vlah’s pragmatic steps to make Gagauzia more economically competitive and integrated into the broader Moldovan economy.The Central Election Commission CEC approves new campaign advertising rules: The rules stipulate that all political ads in Moldova must be labeled as such and identify who funded them. Selling ads will require a written contract and payments can only be made by bank transfer (no cash). No foreign governments, foreign individuals, religious groups or anonymous persons may buy political ads. Additionally, any advertising that is “sexist,” “discriminatory,” or involves calls to illegal actions will be prohibited.
Ilan Shor Promises $10 billion: Shor party officials are setting up 150 tents across Moldova where they will hand out political leaflets explaining Ilan Shor’s recent promise to attract $10 billion dollars of investment to Moldova. Where this investment will come from is unexplained, but Shor has said it would be 5 billion in loans and 5 billion in investments noting ominously that “people are interested in Moldova’s infrastructure.”
The Health Safety Department ANSA is being reformed: ANSA, which is responsible for food safety and inspecting related companies, is being reorganized. Management positions at the agency will be cut from 244 to 100, or from 20% of staffing to 12%. 23 regional subdivisions will be reorganized into 10 territorial offices with most power being centralized in Chisinau.
Tax Free Import Threshold Reduced: Moldova will reduce the threshold from 200 euro to 150 euro. Implementation was postponed from January 1st to July 1st.
5G Coming to Moldova… later: Government plans envisioned an auction of 5G spectrum in 2022… this never happened. New plans push the initial auctions to Q2 2024. In explaining the decision state officials noted that there aren’t many 5G phones in Moldova and basically that the government won’t make enough on the auctions for spectrum at this time.
Moldova approves “backflow” legislation for natural gas: Backflow is a technical term meaning that basically anyone who has access to the same natural gas pipe - whether upstream or downstream - can purchase from one another. Backflow arrangements will improve both Moldova and Ukraine’s ability to purchase gas from the Caucuses and other non-Russian sources. This is an EU norm that has greatly angered Russia in the past which prefers to claim a right to direct sales of the gas even after it has been bought by a 3rd party.
Weird News
Some days, you get a piece of news that is so odd you just can’t stop thinking about it. Last week a fisherman in Stefan Voda was surprised to notice a lion cub walking along the banks of the Nistru. Wildlife is not Moldova’s strong suit - the country is only slowly regaining its squirrel population after they and most other animals were wiped out in the Soviet inflicted famines of the 1930s. Needless to say lions are not “native.”
Police discovered that the lion was on a walk with its owner, a local man named Ion Bulmaga. Mr. Bulmaga stated to police that the lion was a gift from the Odessa Zoo in appreciation of the work that he had done helping Ukrainian refugees. He claimed that while he had not yet registered the animal in Moldova all its documents were in order in Ukraine. In response, the Odessa Zoo categorically denied this stating that they are not in the habit of giving lions out to anyone.
The investigation is ongoing so we’ll have to wait a bit and see just how there came to be a lion prowling around Stefan Voda.
The lion cub in question - Image credit Pro-TV
your coverage of the lion cub incident made me smile. very well written! cheers :)