When Plahotniuc fled from Moldova, he left only physically, leaving behind a system seething with corruption, obscure interests and cowardly people in public functions. If the oligarch had been isolated from society and his servants, a de-oligarchization for Moldova may have been possible. But he had not been isolated, and now Plahotniuc is coming back.

It’s just a deduction made from the social media and the press. In June 2019 the bloggers and the ones posting on social media in favor of the former leader of the Democratic Party went silent without saying anything for several months, resuming their old rhetoric in September-October. And similar phenomena occur in the foreign press.

Former lobbyists of Vlad Plahotniuc have begun to reappear on various American yellow pages, presenting him as a politician whom Moldova needs, who shed his own blood for European values, defending Moldova from the largest possible danger – Russia’s attacks.

National Interest, a webpage based in the U.S.A., published on December 8, 2019, the following statement “Russia planted false stories in European news editions, accusing former pro-European leader of the Democratic Party, Vlad Plahotniuc of financial crimes. (…) Because of these false accusations, Mr. Plahotniuc fled from Moldova to the sanctuary in the West, where his civil and human rights are protected.”

Evidently, this article isn’t written by Plahotniuc himself, it’s written by an American whose name is Dan Goure, Doctor of Science, an exponent of a U.S. think-tank called Lexington institute, which deals with global security studies. 

Probably, Dan Goure believes that the poor, arrested, miserable people of Plahotniuc’s regime have no problem with rights, only the oligarch had to be urgently saved in the European sanctuary, as he suffered the most.

We can suppose that Dan Goure isn’t paid to write such things, or that he isn’t well informed, but we must point out that this is by far not the only article with praiseworthy and compassionate messages written by Dan to his martyred politician Vlad Plahotniuc. 

In October 2019, for example, the same author wrote on the same site that “Plahotniuc is a businessman who, together with Prime Minister Maia Sandu, sought to cement Moldova’s relations with the West, especially with the EU.” 

It is pointless to add here what everyone knows, that Vlad Plahotniuc’s regime has just led to international isolation, to blocking European funding and dialogues, and a Doctor of Science could easily document it.

Doctor of Science Dan Goure isn’t the only American intellectual to write such articles. And National Interest is not the only edition that promotes a beautiful image of Vlad Plahotniuc. Let us remember here the Washington Times (not to be confused with the famous Washington Post newspaper), which has repeatedly published positive articles about our personage. 

One of the articles is written by former U.S. Congressman Bill Shuster, who currently works for Squire Patton Boggs. And Shuster’s texts were taken, by chance, by TV stations in Moldova, affiliated to Plahotniuc.

This is how we reached the American lobbying companies with whom Vlad Plahotniuc signed contracts, in order to promote his image. Apparently, it can be legal for anyone to make a contract; apparently, it is legal for doctors of science and experts to praise a politician from a poor state on the outskirts of Europe. But there should also be transparency of fees and payments. And, surely, there should be room for pluralism of opinions and for the voice of the people impoverished by a Plahotniuc who has money to buy lobbying companies to polish his image. 

On the one hand, the American people donate money to build democracy, justice, and transparency in Moldova, and on the other hand, they take money to polish the image of those who have crushed democracy, justice, and freedom.

The effects of this image clearing will be felt in Chișinău. For now, the former Democratic leader intends to buy TV channels in Romania. Which can also be watched in Chișinău. And they could soon tell the story of a so-called martyr politician.

Alina RADU, alina.radu@zdg.md