On November 3, President Igor Dodon was in Tighina, celebrating with Vadim Krasnoselsky, the head of the Pro-Russian regime in Tiraspol, and his suite, the “National Unity Day – an important state holiday of the Russian Federation,” Dodon wrote on his Facebook page. 

According to him, he and his family were hosted by Krasnoselsky at Tighina Fortress, this unique 16th century cultural and historical place. Tighina Fortress is, like the Transnistrian region, under Russian military occupation since 1992, as a result of the Independence War on the Nistru River. 

Dodon’s gesture scandalized public opinion both in Chișinău and abroad.

ZdG asked the experts’ opinion regarding what the President is doing and what penalties should he expect.  

Ion Leahu, Ex-member of the Joint Control Commission

Meeting with the head of the secessionist regime in Tiraspol, the legitimately elected President of the Republic of Moldova seriously violated Article 2, on the state’s sovereignty and state power of the Constitution. 

I do not think that President Dodon does not know the Constitution of the state whose president he is. Rather, it is a deviation from the constitutional norms, as we are dealing with a regime that has usurped power over a part of the territory of Moldova. So their actions fall under this article, which means they have committed a very serious crime against the people. 

And there is no excuse to the fact that the president meets such persons, especially that the meeting did not aim to seek ways to regulate the Transnistrian conflict, but to celebrate a holiday of a state, with which we, basically, are still in a state of conflict today.

Vitalia Pavlicenco, the National Liberal Party

It doesn’t matter if he knows the Constitution or not. Having taken control of the main state institutions, he does what he wants. Unfortunately, the ACUM bloc did not have the power to oppose and lost control over the situation. 

This coalition with the ACUM bloc has polished his image in front of the Europeans and has given him a free hand. Dodon takes even more liberties than Vladimir Plahotniuc, former leader of the Democratic Party did. He had to be tried for high treason immediately it became clear that Russia is pumping huge money into a party that is the exponent of its expansionist interests in Moldova. 

Dodon’s visit to Tighina demonstrates that he has no national identity, he does not know who he is and that he is alien to our national interests. He went to Tighina to celebrate the day of national unity of an aggressor state, as recognized by the ECtHR.

Chiril Moţpan, Deputy

I do not know whether it is a conscious thing or not. What I am sure of is that Dodon remains faithful to his declarations of blind service of Russia’s interests in the Transnistrian region, ignoring the country’s interests and insulting the memory of the tens of thousands, who defended the independence of the Republic of Moldova in the 1992 conflict on the Nistru River. 

His gesture is difficult to qualify … How can you, president of the country, celebrate a national day of an aggressor state? And in the company of the head of a regime, which does not align to the norms of national law. Once again, Dodon proved that he is not the president of all citizens. 

In 2016, while his term was not yet validated, he had run to Tighina, where, in the company of the same Krasnoselsky, he laid flowers at the tomb of the Cossacks killed in the conflict on the Nistru River… It’s a harmful example how not to do disservice to your country. 

The situation needs to be corrected. It is the job of the prosecutor’s office and of so many other institutions that have to watch over and react to everything that concerns the interests and security of the state and when someone, whether a president or otherwise, jeopardizes those interests, he/she has to stand trial.

Anatol Caraman, Tiras-Tighina Association

Dodon can’t act otherwise. He is trapped by Russian secret services. This man really likes money. And Russia gave him money and now it’s harassing him. He has long betrayed national interests. 

Moscow has found an axe handle and that axe handle is in Putin’s hands, to cut off the heads of those who oppose the idea that this piece of land be turned back into the Russian empire. 

The situation is not clear with this Dodon-Sandu-Năstase alliance, which Kozak’s associates use to demoralize society. Dodon is a tool in the hands of the Russians, and Năstase and Sandu are complicit in it. What did Maia and Năstase do? All the institutions of force have been ceded to Dodon. Russia now controls everything it wants in Moldova. We will express our position in the near future, because things are not going in the direction they were supposed to go.