Europe's Double Failure in Moldova

Europe's passive attitude towards the ongoing crisis in Moldova shows that when faced with the choice between power and principle, the EU is all too eager to abandon its core values in exchange for apparent geopolitical gains. True, the wise conduct of foreign policy often requires such compromises between what is right and what is necessary. But in the case of Moldova, the EU misjudged the forces at play and made a mockery out of its alleged commitment to a free society.

By European standards, Moldova today qualifies as a failed state. The country's average GDP per capita is only $250, with almost 30 percent of its four million citizens living below the poverty line. It is also one of the main sources of human trafficking on the continent and the break-away republic of Transdniester, which stretches between Moldova and the Ukraine, is a regional hub for money laundering and arms smuggling.

In the eyes of the disenchanted Moldovan youths, the victory of the Communist Party in the parliamentary elections held on April 5th signaled the continuity of this bleak horizon. In scenes familiar to Eastern Europe in 1989, thousands of protesters took over the Parliament building in the capital Chisinau and demanded a recount of the vote, which they claimed was rigged. The regime of outgoing President Vladimir Voronin - himself a former interior minister in the days when Moldova belonged to the Soviet Union - responded with a Soviet-style crackdown. Over 200 people have been beaten and jailed, some without access to lawyers. The body of 23-year old student Valeriu Boboc was returned to his parents covered with bruises and journalist Natalia Morar, one of the key planners of the anti-communist demonstrations, went into hiding after being placed under house arrest. Ten other journalists have been threatened or arrested by the Moldovan authorities. Backed by the Russian government, President Voronin accused Romania of plotting a coup against him, expelled the Romanian ambassador from Chisinau and reintroduced visas for Romanian citizens.

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Posted by Jodi Westrick on April 20, 2009 2:44 PM

Moldova's Non-Orange Revolution

On April 5th, 2009 the Moldovan Communist Party announced that it had won more than 50 percent of the votes and could thus once again reign supreme in Parliament with 61 seats, giving its deputies enough leverage to elect the new president. The following day, thousands of young demonstrators flooded to the streets of Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, to protest the election results. Over 10,000 protesters gathered outside the parliament building demanding new elections and shouting, "Down with the Communists" and, "Freedom, Freedom." Unfortunately, the demonstrations culminated with the storming of the president's office and parliament building on Tuesday, April 7th.

The Moldovan protest had the makings of an orange revolution, but the sight of hundreds of youths pelting police with rocks, smashing windows, and trashing furniture had nothing to do with the Ukrainian precedent.

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Posted by Lauren Keane on April 15, 2009 4:43 PM