Weekly Roundup
November 14, 2023
Welcome back to Moldova Matters! In our last Weekly Roundup, and in our post-election article, we’ve almost completely focused on the local elections and their aftermath for the past two weeks. This Weekly Roundup will get us caught up on other important news stories as well as continued updates on the election results.
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The European Commission Recommends Starting Negotiations on Moldova’s Accession into the EU
The news about the European Commissions recommendation was announced by Ursula von der Leyen on November 8th. The Commission has recommended that the European Council begin negotiations with both Moldova and Ukraine. The European Council will decide whether to open negotiations at their meeting on December 14th - 15th.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen cited Moldova’s progress towards reform, particularly that the country has accomplished 6 of 9 requirements which precede negotiations. The report cited Moldova’s progress in protecting human rights, reforming public administration and finance, fighting organized crime and money-laundering and increasing civil-society representation in decision making. At the same time the report noted that requirements around justice reform, fighting corruption, and "deoligarchization" are not accomplished. Specifically the report noted that progress in fighting corruption has yielded "no significant progress in addressing high-profile corruption cases.”
President Sandu welcomed the recommendation saying:
“Today’s decision by the European Commission inspires us and gives us strength to continue what we started. To make Moldova stronger, a state that ensures peace at home, contributes to regional security and cares for the well-being of its citizens. There is still a lot of work to do. The path we have chosen is full of challenges. We are not afraid of work, and our goal is to prepare Moldova for accession to the EU by 2030,”
EU High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, also welcomed the decision, but noted that the path may be long saying:
“I want to congratulate all citizens and the government of Moldova. You have made significant efforts to achieve progress towards the EU. Today the European Commission recommended starting negotiations on accession to the EU with the Republic of Moldova. This became possible thanks to the hard work of Moldovan citizens. You made efforts in the context of the dire consequences of Russia's war against Ukraine. The path may be long and fraught with difficulties, but I am confident that we will overcome them together. We will continue to support the stability and security of Moldova. Because Moldova belongs to the European Union, and the EU door is open for the republic,”
Presidents Sandu and Zelenskyy spoke on the phone after the announcement congratulating each other’s countries on the progress towards the EU and promising additional cooperation on this joint goal.
Igor Dodon was a lone voice in Moldova’s opposition speaking out against the news saying that “The so-called rapprochement with the EU has not yet brought anything good to Moldovans…” He went on to blame the EU and PAS for Moldova’s economic problems as well as regional security issues.
Justice Reform
Experts note that among the requirements “not accomplished” in the EU Commission report, reforms in the justice system will be the hardest to move forward. Moldova is supposed to assure that the Superior Council of Prosecutors SCP is made fully functional, and that a new Prosecutor General be appointed. Both are supposed to be accomplished by Spring. The reform of the SCP has been mired in legal challenges around pre-Vetting for months and is moving slowly. Meanwhile, a competition for a new prosecutor general has been announced, but this process can take time - pre-Vetting alone is expected to take 4-5 months. That is if everything runs smoothly.
…which it isn’t. Alexander Stoianoglo, the former Prosecutor General who was removed by President Sandu this summer continues to make legal challenges to his ouster. Initially this resulted in a ECHR ruling in his favor that challenged aspects of the process of his removal. President Sandu stated that this ruling only focused on specific technical issues and would not result in overturning his removal. After that the Constitutional Court weighed in and issued a decision last week finding the law that created an evaluation process for the Prosecutor General to be unconstitutional. In theory, this decision sets the whole process of trying to evaluate and replace the Stoianoglo back by multiple years. It also invalidates the President’s decision to remove him on the basis of the law that was declared unconstitutional. At the same time, President Sandu stated:
“The Constitutional Court declared unconstitutional an article that no longer exists”
The President explained that the Venice Commission also criticized this law and so it was amended. According to this statement, the ruling impacts a version of the law that has already been superseded. This sets up a potential showdown between the government and the Constitutional Court.
So it’s not very clear what happens next - there will be numerous court challenges to various parts of the procedure. What we do know is that Mr. Stoianoglo will continue to challenge his removal and *may* find himself re-instated to the position even while numerous criminal cases against him are pending in court.
Other Justice Reform updates:
The World Justice Project released the 2023 rule of law rankings. Moldova ranks 68th of 142 countries evaluated. Romania scored 40th and Ukraine 89th. In the report, Moldova scored best in the categories "order and security" and worst in "corruption and criminal justice."
The Deputy Director of the National Anti-Corruption Center CNA was appointed as new director by Parliament. The Socialists called this action illegal noting that there was no public competition held for the position.
Nicolae Rosca, head of the Constitutional Court resigned. Judge Rosca has held the position of head of the court since April 2023. He cited personal reasons in his resignation. Judge Rosca will continue to serve on the court as a judge. Former leader of the court Domnica Manole was re-elected as head of the court following the announcement.
President Sandu publicly criticized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor Veronica Dragalin. The President criticized actions of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor resisting external evaluation of the prosecutors in her office. Dragalin has said that this would disrupt the office as some prosecutors would resign rather than go through vetting. The President firmly pushed back on this idea saying:
“It is very strange that Ms. Dragalin says that there are corrupt judges and prosecutors in the system, but at the same time she says that we do not need verification and preliminary assessment. How then can we get rid of them?"
While the European Commission noted progress in reforms, it is clear both from their evaluation and from a simple reading of the news, that Justice Reform is a major challenge for the current government. Exchanges like this between President Sandu and Dragalin highlight the fact that there are multiple opinions about how reform can be best conducted, and real differences between decision makers about what the next steps are.
Local Elections and Shor
With the second round of local elections approaching for races where no candidate cleared the 50% threshold, the race in Moldova’s second largest city of Balti has been shaken up again. The Electoral Council of Balti removed Arina Corșicova, Shor’s “backup candidate” who came in second with 21.52% of the vote. Shor’s faction(s) shifted support to Corșicova following the last minute removal of the Chance party from the election. The Electoral Council made the decision citing the fact that Corșicova is under Canadian sanctions as a "Russian collaborator" and cases of illegal spending by her campaign. Corșicova is protesting her removal in court.
Alexander Petkov of “Our Party,” led by Renato Usati, won the first round with 22.69% and will now face off against the Socialist candidate Maxim Morosan who got 19.72%.
Renato Usati reportedly suggested to Igor Dodon that both parties withdraw their candidates in protest. This would force a new election, with the participation of Chance (possibly), in 2024. Mr. Dodon rejected this proposal, condemned the removal of Corșicova, and said that the Socialists will compete to win the second round.
Meanwhile, the Chance party’s appeals to the Central Election Commission CEC were rejected and the party will now appeal their ban in court.
Shor Leaves Israel… Briefly
Last week Journal TV reported that Ilan Shor left Israel on November 6th. Reporters claim that he flew to Istanbul and met up with Russian Oligarch Roman Abramovich before both men flew on to Moscow. Journalists noted that Igor Dodon was scheduled to travel to Russia at the same time and that 2 other Socialist MPs were in Istanbul at the same time as Shor also traveling to Russia.
This news came days after Bloomberg published an opinion piece suggesting that Israel should use Shor as a bartering chip. The author of the piece suggested that Shor could be extradited to Moldova as a way of punishing the Kremlin for their support of Hamas. Shor has promised to sue Bloomberg over the article saying that it questions his Israeli patriotism by linking him to Hamas via Russia.
Mr. Dodon rejected any suggestion that he was going to Russia to meet with Shor saying that he had no desire to meet "with Șor or with Plahotniuc." Mr. Dodon claims his trip to Kazan was planned well in advance as his 2 sons are studying there and one of them had his birthday last week. The other Socialist MPs claimed they were going to Russia for an unrelated CIS event.
Interpol confirmed Shor’s date of departure and said that they confirmed he returned to Israel on November 9th. The organization noted that Israeli authorities said that they did not know his destination and Turkish authorities claim he hasn’t been in the country since 2015. There is no public information about what Shor did on his trip and he hasn’t spoken about it.
In other Shor related news, the National Integrity Authority ANI reported that an investigation showed Marina Tauber has been living well beyond her official means. The investigation is looking into a large gap between her stated income and expenses. At the same time, the court gave Tauber permission to temporarily leave Moldova to seek medical treatment in Israel. This decision, like many others recently, was made over the objections of prosecutors.
Moldovans Evacuated from Gaza
On November 7th President Sandu announced the evacuation of the first of the roughly 100 Moldovan citizens trapped in Gaza. On that day 36 Moldovans left Gaza and were met by consular staff at the crossing into Egypt. Following this they were taken to Cairo and flown to Romania along with Romanians who were evacuated.
Following the evacuation Prime Minister Recean stated:
“I think they will be here at home by nightfall. I thank the Ministry of Foreign Affiars and other government officials who have worked on this in recent weeks. I would also like to thank Bucharest and our international partners who helped in this difficult matter - Egypt, Israel, the USA, Romania, Ukraine,”
On their arrival in Chisinau the 36 evacuees were met by the Prime Minister. One Moldova, named as Galina in the press, described her time in Gaza saying:
“It was terrible from the first to the last day. They even bombed people's houses. Many came from the north; people had nowhere to go. During the day they bombed sidewalks and fields. We didn't leave the house for a month, it was very scary. The water supply stopped, the water was turned on according to a schedule. Drinking water was given out in portions, and there were long lines for bread,”
Other evacuees expressed concerns about husbands and family members left behind. On November 10th, 9 more Moldovan citizens were able to cross and begin making their way home.
Other Israeli-Moldova News
In the backdrop of the ongoing war in Gaza, the Moldovan press has reported on multiple anti-semitic incidents involving Moldovans. At a Moldovan lyceum (high school) a teacher reportedly told her class that…
“Hitler started a good thing, but did not complete it - the extermination of all Jews.”
Children (grade not reported) were reportedly shocked and one student who spoke out was told by the teacher “Shut your mouth and don’t forget your place.” The Ministry of Education called out the blatant anti-semitism and asked that the school convene it’s ethics council to sanction the teacher. No word has come on what sanctions the teacher might face.
In a separate incident, a Moldovan couple was detained in France for spray-painting the Star of David onto the walls of multiple public buildings. French authorities claim that the couple, 33 and 29 years old, were working at the instruction of a pro-Russian businessman in Moldova identified as Anatoli Prizenco. They claim that Prizenco paid the couple 50 euros for the vandalism and that a network of similar incidents involving 250 Stars of David painted on walls could be tracked to him. The police called the incidents “an attempt at destabilization by Moscow.” Both Moldovans were in France illegally and have been deported.
Local journalists investigated the supposed “businessman” Anatoli Prizenco and found that he only owns one company, an individual enterprise (like a single member LLC) founded in 1995. He is not a known businessman in Moldova but his wife may be affiliated with the cosmetics company Oriflame.
Security and Defense News
Here’s a rapid fire roundup of the top security, Transnistria and defense news of the last weeks:
A 38 year old Azerbaijani citizen escaped from the Chisinau airport. The man was denied entry to Moldova and then subsequently escaped while waiting for deportation. Police announced the escape along with a picture of the man before apprehending him after an overnight manhunt. The man was deported following his capture. Speaking about the situation Prime Minister Recean said that new airport security procedures were not implemented fast enough and that a “resignation will follow soon.” Following this the head of the Border Police, who was previously under fire for management of the the shooting at the airport this summer, resigned.
France delivered a batch of military equipment to Moldova as part of the countries new defense cooperation agreement. The delivery was primarily small arms and ammunition for the Moldovan army. The stated goal is to ensure compatibility between the Moldovan armed forces and NATO / EU militaries.
The “Russia House” in Chisinau delivered 2500 new history textbooks to Transnistria. The textbooks paint a very happy picture of Russian development in the last 10 years leading to a “breaking point” with the west over Crimea and the “coup in Ukraine.” The books state that Russia had “no choice” but to launch the “Special Military Operation” to protect ethnic Russians in Ukraine. The books do not mention the war, casualties or refugee crisis at all. The Moldovan Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the delivery of these books “unfriendly” and noted that since the border is closed to such items they must have been delivered to the Russian Embassy via diplomatic pouch.
Moldova suspends the licenses of 6 TV channels and blocks access to 31 new websites. The Security and Information Service SIS requested that the Commission for Emergency Situations suspend the TV channels after receiving reports from the Television and Radio Council about programming and ownership violations. After the government banned multiple Plahotniuc and Shor affiliated channels in December 2022 the “entire logistical apparatus” of these stations moved to new stations - namely Orizont TV, ITV, Prime, Publika, Canal 2 and Canal 3. The channels were blocked for spreading Russian propaganda, supporting sanctioned oligarchs and for coordinating messaging - namely that all the supposedly “independent” channels were really controlled by Plahotniuc. Explaining the move, as well as the banning of 31 websites (21 of which were from Russia), SIS director Alexandru Musteata said:
“It is obvious that in the national media space we can equate Plahotniuc’s criminal group with Shor’s criminal group. Their actions, together with the entire hybrid arsenal of Russia, are directed against Moldova. With today’s decision of the National Commission for Emergency Situations, the state protects our information space,”
The Kremlin responded to the banning of channels by threatening retaliatory measures against Moldovan journalists in Russia. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded by noting that there are no Moldovan journalists working in Russia. Ilan Shor also produced furious statements about the blocking of opposition media, etc. Responding to the Russians, President Sandu stated:
“It’s funny when Russia, which closes all free media, teaches us democracy. We are interested in the opinions of the international community and our citizens. In international press freedom rankings, Moldova ranks higher than Russia and even some countries of the European Union. We value freedom of speech. All citizens can hear someone criticizing the government from morning to evening. Undoubtedly, this does not exist in Russia. We are not learning democracy from the Kremlin,”
Economics and Infrastructure
Here’s a rapid fire roundup of the top economics and infrastructure news of the last weeks:
The National Bank reduced the base rate from 6% to 4.3%. The move signals a recognition that inflation is falling and less intervention is needed. Annual inflation fell this month from 8.63% in September to 6.3% in October. While the prices of many goods are continuing to fall, inflation is most stubbornly sticking around in the food sector assuring that people are still feeling it at the grocery stores and markets.
Parliament passed a law in the 2nd reading aimed at "combating unemployment." The law tightens the requirements on people receiving unemployment benefits. Now unemployed persons will only receive healthcare if they are officially registered as unemployed. To maintain this registration, a monthly report on the person’s efforts to find work will need to be filed. People who do not find work in 3 months will be offered low-skill positions from the National Employment Agency.
Ukraine is clear - no gas transit contract with GazProm in 2025. The Ukrainian government has said definitively that gas transit from Russia will end at the contract expiration in December 2024. They say that this is enough time for EU countries to wean themselves off of Russian gas (Hungary, Slovakia, etc). If they maintain this schedule, the hourglass of the Transnistrian economy is set to just more than 1 year before the last grain of sand runs out.
Winter energy subsidies registrations are now live. Citizens and residents have until November 25th to register at compensatii.gov.md to qualify for subsidies. This year there are new calculations to evaluate a household’s need and 2 programs including direct invoicing subsidies and cash subsidies for those heating their houses with wood or coal.
Minister Parlikov confirmed that Bashkan Hutsel’s promises of cheaper gas for Gagauzia were a lie. He stated:
“There is a big difference between supplying gas and disseminating statements. You don't need a special license to distribute news. It is important for me that the world is convinced that these statements will not be followed by real gas supplies. Tomorrow, November 10, is the deadline for Moldovagaz to receive 100 thousand requests to change suppliers. If they don’t exist, it means that this is populism,”