Moldova’s autonomy willing and unwilling to joint Russia

Găgăuzia is an autonomy within Moldova, which is traditionally blamed for separatist sentiments and whose opinion has become valuable for Chişinău by the end of 2016.

Presidential elections in Moldova finished in November. Igor Dodon, a pro-Russian candidate, won the presidential race. Găgăuzia’s formal trait is exactly the consistent orientation towards Russia: be it geopolitics, culture, media or daily routine. The studied have revealed that locals get information about the developments in the outer world from the Russian mass media. 90% of the Gagauz people are Orthodox Christians.

One might jump to the conclusion that socialists got the majority of votes here, especially as they are the most Russian-oriented political force in the country and the newly elected President, Igor Dodon, represents that very party.

However, Găgăuzia, that was regarded by everyone as the pro-Russian region, didn’t let socialists proceed with their triumphant electoral advancement. Only 2 out of 21 Majority MP candidates, nominated by the Socialist Party, managed to get seats in the legislative body as a result of the first round of election.

What should Moldova expect from this region now?

A comment by Irina Vlakh, Găgăuzia’s top official (Başkan) to Hromadske TV

“40% of goods exported today to Găgăuzia come from the EU. However, locals still give preference to the partnership with Russia-led Customs Union rather than that with the EU. The matter is that the economic factors have nothing to do with all that when it comes to political partnership. People’s choice at the referendum three years ago wasn’t condition by export. Our choice is absolutely different.

Our Law on Special Legal Status of Găgăuzia provides for holding domestic referenda, and that’s very good. Then we also decided to consult the people and that was the right decision. 97% of the population supported Găgăuzia’s integration into the Eurasian Union. 

Why Găgăuzia doesn’t see its place either in Moldova or in the EU?

One of the questions at the referendum concerned Găgăuzia’s actions in case of Moldova’s unification with Romania.

97% of the population said, Moldova should be a neutral, independent and sovereign country. In the event Moldova unites with Romania, there will be no Gagauz people there.

Context

Briefly about the preceding developments:

·a referendum on the issue of Găgăuzia joining the Eurasian Customs Union, as well as on ‘postponement of the Gagauz people’s right to self-determination’, was held in Găgăuzia in 2014

·this referendum was at variance with the Moldovan government’s general orientation towards EU integration. Official Chişinău tried to prevent holding of that referendum through court. As the Moldovan government officials pointed out later, voting in Găgăuzia would have no legal effect anyway.

·Găgăuzia proclaimed its independence in August 1990, soon after the collapse of the Soviet Union and simultaneous launch of the ethnic and territorial conflicts in the Caucasus.  In response to that, the Moldovan nationalist volunteers, led by then-Premier, Mircea Druc, organized an armed crusade against Comrat, the region’s capital, in October 1990. Violence and direct clashes were avoided though concessions, made by both parties.

·over the subsequent 3 years, the central government in Chişinău and the local authorities reached an agreement on the legal status of the region as part of Moldova;

· over 80% of Găgăuzia’s population are ethnic Gagauzs, Turkic-speaking people with their own history and customs, who didn’t enjoy any autonomy in Soviet times.