Sunday's election in Moldova followed a script similar to what occurred in Romania, with the spectre of “Russian interference” invoked to justify sweeping EU-NATO involvement in the electoral process
People need to take a step back and understand the west and NATO are not about democracy at all.
The last time they made a global cold war, what did they support or create directly:
- Francoist miltary dictatorship in Spain
- Salazarist Estado Novo dictatorship in Portugal
- military dictatorships in Greece
- military dictatorship in Turkey
- military dictatorships across all of Africa
- military dictatorships across all of latin America
- military dictatorship of Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang in Taiwan
- military dictatorship in Korea
- dictatorship of Marcos etc in Philippenes
Many of those western-created or western backed dictatorships, like in Taiwan, Spain, Portugal lasted into the 1980s. Some like Mobutuism in Congo, into the 1990s. The US supported dictatorship in Taiwan was in power until the mid 1980s. In Korea the US backed Roh Tae Woo was in power until 1993.
All this while the west was continually claiming "other systems" to be undemocratic and autcratic.
Even in the US, the purported democracy was led by a military general (Eisenhower) until 1961! And his successor was forcibly removed by the internal security state. The same internal security state in the US formally held the presidency in the 1980s all the way to 1992 (George H. Bush).
We already saw moves to go back in this direction when the former South Korea leader - backed by the US - just in the past year - attempted to effect a military coup. Backed by the US with no rebuke from them!
You should really put this front and center of your thoughts, to understand that now that they are whipping up another cold war with Russia and China, frankly it's a wonder that elections were held at all in Moldova. Because the so called west does not actually believe in democracy, and they themselves even go to military rule too.
And I believe that unless the public in Europe rises up soon, then we will see cases of martial law and no elections in Europe. It's already what they have done to Ukraine!
Well listed! I'll just add the assassination of Patrice Lumumba in the Congo in I think it was 1961 by the CIA and probably Mossad and also the assassination of Mosadegh, i think I've spelt his name right, the democratically elected leader of Iran in the 1950s. NATO and the West are truly the most despicable barbaric of all countries I would say in the world. China? yes, they've done some dreadful things and they keep the Tibetans and the Uighur under tight control but frankly in terms of foreign policy nothing beats the arrogance, deceit and total disregard for human life of the U.S and Europe. And still the public believes these bastards.... that's the worst bit!
Once again you wade into historical and political waters and find yourself in over your head.
Let's take the historical basis first. Moldova is a historically Romanian region. Romania did not "expand its influence" - the entire region is part of a historically Romanian kingdom. Russian attempts to turn in into a vassal state go back centuries, with many acts of repression and expulsion to go with it. It's too long and complicated to go into details, but the first half of the twentieth century was particularly nasty. Thousands of the Gagauz you pretend to care about were sent to Siberia, for example.
Perhaps you could explain to your readers how it is that, until recently, the ruling class of Moldovan politics was Russian-speaking despite their extreme minority presence in the country? The history of the Moldavian SSR is particularly instructive here. I would not refer to Russia as a "historic main partner" unless partnership is compelled by force of arms.
On the political side, there is hard evidence of vote buying with criminal convictions to go with it. "I cannot judge the guilt or innocence of those accused" - correct, that is the job of the courts. Leaving aside your deeply misleading remarks about Transnistria (an area ruled by a single party and literally occupied by Russian troops, whose history is likewise very instructive), why don't you simply look at the electoral map? All of the regions you claim are repressed voted heavily for pro-Russian candidates. The problem is, they just aren't in the majority politically. This despite concerted Russian efforts not only to politically influence Moldova but to hold it economically hostage via its energy supply (where indeed do those "soaring energy prices" originate?).
All Moldovans can apply for fast-tracked Romanian citizenship, and many do. It is in their obvious interest to do so, as they gain EU passports and mobility. Sandu is not some kind of exception in this regard. It's not a conspiracy or indication of high treason as you seem to wrongly think. Traian Basescu repeatedly stated that the eventual course is not reunification per se but a union of the two states where the border would no longer exist, a course that is widely supported in both nations. Sound familiar?
You obviously don't speak "Moldovan" - otherwise you'd know how close the dialects are. It's like saying that somebody speaks "American."
So, needless to say, I think you're wrong, again. But worse than that, I find your position inconsistent and frankly dishonest. Here's the real crux of the matter:
You claim to care about democracy and sovereignty, but your conclusions are continuously contradicted by the voters themselves. You claim to be a populist, but then you seem to think very little of a populace making up its own mind, especially when you disagree with the outcome. To you, the Moldovan state wields fearsome persuasive power, yet Russian influence via social media has negligible-to-zero impact. So which way is it? Do you believe in popular will, or not?
If you believe that voters are so malleable, so easily thwarted in their thoughts and deeds, then you sit closer to a Brussels bureaucrat than you think.
Romania wasn't close. Neither was Moldova. Stop writing articles to fit your preexisting agenda for the EU.
thanks for your take on what's going on in the Baltics as East vs West disharmony continues endlessly sice 1991. Looks like the binary choice of us or them is the main theme in this thin boundry between East and West. Looks like what is happeing in Ukraine will be happeing continuously along these border areas. I have no idea how this plays out in the long run. My guess is it will contiue well past my life expectency. So fool on world cause in 20 years or so I won't be arond to listen to it any more.
my solution: live and let live and share the bounty earth has given us. It's that simple yet seemingly unattainable.
PS Thomas Fazi is one of the few reporters that is right on i his commentary.
your insights and conclusions at the end are very true..moldova is being pulled into this binary choice which serves bigger geopolitical games, with the result, moldova is caught in the middle and suffers the most - just as ukraine has and georgia had in the past..
europe and the west - usa and etc, are very much contributing to increasing tension in these regions and resorting to labelling so much as russian interference, just as the pot calls the kettle black…it won’t end well for moldova.
People need to take a step back and understand the west and NATO are not about democracy at all.
The last time they made a global cold war, what did they support or create directly:
- Francoist miltary dictatorship in Spain
- Salazarist Estado Novo dictatorship in Portugal
- military dictatorships in Greece
- military dictatorship in Turkey
- military dictatorships across all of Africa
- military dictatorships across all of latin America
- military dictatorship of Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang in Taiwan
- military dictatorship in Korea
- dictatorship of Marcos etc in Philippenes
Many of those western-created or western backed dictatorships, like in Taiwan, Spain, Portugal lasted into the 1980s. Some like Mobutuism in Congo, into the 1990s. The US supported dictatorship in Taiwan was in power until the mid 1980s. In Korea the US backed Roh Tae Woo was in power until 1993.
All this while the west was continually claiming "other systems" to be undemocratic and autcratic.
Even in the US, the purported democracy was led by a military general (Eisenhower) until 1961! And his successor was forcibly removed by the internal security state. The same internal security state in the US formally held the presidency in the 1980s all the way to 1992 (George H. Bush).
We already saw moves to go back in this direction when the former South Korea leader - backed by the US - just in the past year - attempted to effect a military coup. Backed by the US with no rebuke from them!
You should really put this front and center of your thoughts, to understand that now that they are whipping up another cold war with Russia and China, frankly it's a wonder that elections were held at all in Moldova. Because the so called west does not actually believe in democracy, and they themselves even go to military rule too.
And I believe that unless the public in Europe rises up soon, then we will see cases of martial law and no elections in Europe. It's already what they have done to Ukraine!
Well listed! I'll just add the assassination of Patrice Lumumba in the Congo in I think it was 1961 by the CIA and probably Mossad and also the assassination of Mosadegh, i think I've spelt his name right, the democratically elected leader of Iran in the 1950s. NATO and the West are truly the most despicable barbaric of all countries I would say in the world. China? yes, they've done some dreadful things and they keep the Tibetans and the Uighur under tight control but frankly in terms of foreign policy nothing beats the arrogance, deceit and total disregard for human life of the U.S and Europe. And still the public believes these bastards.... that's the worst bit!
Yes - and they will do dictatorships IN Europe. That's what they did in Spain, Portugal, Greece.
So expect that. It wont be all just rigging elections.
Once again you wade into historical and political waters and find yourself in over your head.
Let's take the historical basis first. Moldova is a historically Romanian region. Romania did not "expand its influence" - the entire region is part of a historically Romanian kingdom. Russian attempts to turn in into a vassal state go back centuries, with many acts of repression and expulsion to go with it. It's too long and complicated to go into details, but the first half of the twentieth century was particularly nasty. Thousands of the Gagauz you pretend to care about were sent to Siberia, for example.
Perhaps you could explain to your readers how it is that, until recently, the ruling class of Moldovan politics was Russian-speaking despite their extreme minority presence in the country? The history of the Moldavian SSR is particularly instructive here. I would not refer to Russia as a "historic main partner" unless partnership is compelled by force of arms.
On the political side, there is hard evidence of vote buying with criminal convictions to go with it. "I cannot judge the guilt or innocence of those accused" - correct, that is the job of the courts. Leaving aside your deeply misleading remarks about Transnistria (an area ruled by a single party and literally occupied by Russian troops, whose history is likewise very instructive), why don't you simply look at the electoral map? All of the regions you claim are repressed voted heavily for pro-Russian candidates. The problem is, they just aren't in the majority politically. This despite concerted Russian efforts not only to politically influence Moldova but to hold it economically hostage via its energy supply (where indeed do those "soaring energy prices" originate?).
All Moldovans can apply for fast-tracked Romanian citizenship, and many do. It is in their obvious interest to do so, as they gain EU passports and mobility. Sandu is not some kind of exception in this regard. It's not a conspiracy or indication of high treason as you seem to wrongly think. Traian Basescu repeatedly stated that the eventual course is not reunification per se but a union of the two states where the border would no longer exist, a course that is widely supported in both nations. Sound familiar?
You obviously don't speak "Moldovan" - otherwise you'd know how close the dialects are. It's like saying that somebody speaks "American."
So, needless to say, I think you're wrong, again. But worse than that, I find your position inconsistent and frankly dishonest. Here's the real crux of the matter:
You claim to care about democracy and sovereignty, but your conclusions are continuously contradicted by the voters themselves. You claim to be a populist, but then you seem to think very little of a populace making up its own mind, especially when you disagree with the outcome. To you, the Moldovan state wields fearsome persuasive power, yet Russian influence via social media has negligible-to-zero impact. So which way is it? Do you believe in popular will, or not?
If you believe that voters are so malleable, so easily thwarted in their thoughts and deeds, then you sit closer to a Brussels bureaucrat than you think.
Romania wasn't close. Neither was Moldova. Stop writing articles to fit your preexisting agenda for the EU.
thanks for your take on what's going on in the Baltics as East vs West disharmony continues endlessly sice 1991. Looks like the binary choice of us or them is the main theme in this thin boundry between East and West. Looks like what is happeing in Ukraine will be happeing continuously along these border areas. I have no idea how this plays out in the long run. My guess is it will contiue well past my life expectency. So fool on world cause in 20 years or so I won't be arond to listen to it any more.
my solution: live and let live and share the bounty earth has given us. It's that simple yet seemingly unattainable.
PS Thomas Fazi is one of the few reporters that is right on i his commentary.
your insights and conclusions at the end are very true..moldova is being pulled into this binary choice which serves bigger geopolitical games, with the result, moldova is caught in the middle and suffers the most - just as ukraine has and georgia had in the past..
europe and the west - usa and etc, are very much contributing to increasing tension in these regions and resorting to labelling so much as russian interference, just as the pot calls the kettle black…it won’t end well for moldova.
Excellent article Thomas.
And I agree wholeheartedly with the other folks in the comments.
The battle of freedom lovers versus authoritarians is going full on in the West, Europe and elsewhere.