Bulgaria and Moldova held the second rounds of their respective presidential elections on November 13. As it turned out, these races were won by advocates of closer relations with Russia. To be more precise, more than 52 percent of Moldovan voters supported leader of the Socialists Igor Dodon, while his rival, representative of pro-European forces Maia Sandu received 47.7 percent of the vote.
Dodon favors mending relations with Russia and rescinding Moldova’s course for European integration. He has said that his first official visit will be to Moscow. After his victory was announced, several hundred people gathered in Chisinau to demand the cancellation of the election results and call for a new vote.
Meanwhile, 53-year-old former air force commander Major General Rumen Radev won the Bulgarian election in a landslide. He received almost 60 percent of the vote to his ruling party opponent Tsetska Tsacheva’s 36.2 percent, Reuters reports. Radev, who is a newcomer to politics, is slated to officially take office on January 22; the major general is also known for his pro-Russian statements.
CHISINAU, REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA. NOVEMBER 13, 2016 / REUTERS photo
COMMENTARIES
Ivan KOSTOV, ex-prime minister of Bulgaria:
“The main reason why Bulgarians voted for Radev is mass protest vote against the second Boyko Borissov’s government.
“Secondly, after the annexation of Crimea, the Kremlin launched a propaganda aggression against Bulgaria and some Eastern European countries. This aggression has not met opposition from Bulgarian politicians and media.
“This vote was not disappointed by the European course of Bulgaria. Bulgarians have no reason to be disappointed by the EU.
“The president has no power to back Bulgaria in the Russian orbit. Rather, he is likely to become the next ‘traitor’ to Russian interests in the categories of Kremlin political technologists.
“I agree with what Radev said on state TV: ‘It’s a victory for all Bulgarian people. Democracy has beaten apathy and fear today.’ Democracy has this property.
“In his victory speech Radev reiterated his support for lifting EU sanctions on Russia and praised new US president-elect Donald Trump for ‘seeking more dialog’ with Russian president Vladimir Putin. In addition Radev said that sanctions are a matter of government. That is correct. But I do not believe that he will push for the lifting of sanctions. I am afraid that Trump will have a deal with Putin and we will see the price he will have pay.”
Roland FREUDENSTEIN, deputy director, Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies:
“Obviously, these are bad developments. But let’s not exaggerate. The Bulgarian president does not decide his country’s stance on sanctions. Moldova is outside the EU. So in the EU itself, I don’t see a change yet. Recently, because of Aleppo, there was actually a toughening of EU attitudes about Russia. Trump’s victory may have brought new insecurity here. But there are many Republicans who will resist a lifting of US sanctions. So I’m hopeful that the worst will be avoided.”
Hryhorii PEREPELYTSIA, Doctor of Political Sciences, conflictologist, professor at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv
Bulgaria benefited a lot from the country’s accession to the EU, and now people have effectively voted for a U-turn. Meanwhile, Romania is nothing like that. Why is this happening?
“Romania had a strong nation-building sentiment which made them care about building a powerful state, and there were moderate nationalists and radicals there who dreamed of the Greater Romania, even though they did not have a dominant influence. Still, both leading political forces stuck to the nation-building process. The Soviet heritage was overcome once Ion Iliescu, who was an old Communist boss, left the government. He was followed by Emil Constantinescu who was linked to corruption, but democratic forces were strong enough to forcefully ask him to leave.
NOVEMBER 13, 2016. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE OF THE BULGARIAN SOCIALIST PARTY RUMEN RADEV SPEAKS TO MEDIA DURING A PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN SOFIA, BULGARIA / REUTERS photo
“After all of that, a new democratic elite came to power that was clearly working for reform and the nation-building process. This was not the case in Moldova and Bulgaria. The state remained weak there, the political elite was uncertain regarding its orientation, and people lived detached from it all. Bulgaria was one of the poorest countries in the EU, so they did not see the EU as a path to prosperity. As long as European institutions sent money, the ruling elite supported the European course. Nobody talked to the masses in Bulgaria and Moldova, and people did not see any real gains in their life standards.
“Russian propaganda, meanwhile, did a very good job brainwashing them, so the Russian World is on the attack and succeeds with it. We see the Russian World spreading further to all neighbors of Ukraine.”
What conclusions should our government draw after pro-Russian forces’ ascent to power in Bulgaria and Moldova, and the emergence of a new international situation with Donald Trump’s election?
“The current Ukrainian government will fall soon, because kleptocracy cannot be productive. When the country has been sucked dry, this kleptocracy will try to squeeze the last juices out of the masses, and the latter’s patience has been exhausted. The main threat for Ukraine comes from within now, I mean the presence of kleptocracy and a kleptocratic regime. The issue of war with Russia has not been resolved either. The social tension increases, but there is no leader who would have structured this tension and directed it into a certain channel.
“People will rally as soon as they see a structure around which to rally. We must vote for those who care for the nation-building process and will work on it, those who will put forward new ideas.
“Therefore, the only way forward at the moment is a snap legislative election under an amended electoral law. If this is not done, it will cause an explosion, because the masses’ pressure must have a way out. Should a peaceful way out be unavailable, expect what we saw during two Maidan protests to repeat. Unless we get early legislative and then presidential elections, we will have a complete collapse and the transformation of Ukraine into a failed state, which has actually been Putin’s objective in the war with Ukraine all along. And then, the West will certainly agree to another division of Europe modeled on the Yalta Conference. Because no European politician will then know what to do with a problem called Ukraine.
“It is necessary to change the electoral rules to ensure that people coming to power are nation-builders rather than kleptocrats plundering the country.
“These elections have shown how dangerous the Russian World really is. Bulgaria had EU and NATO membership, and both came to nothing. That is, subversion came from within. Meanwhile, Article 5 of the Washington Treaty cannot be activated due to internal developments. NATO will be unable to do anything in such a situation. This is a very dangerous type of hybrid warfare, which the West has absolutely no interest in.”
