Monday, April 19, Strasbourg: the third Council of Europe (CoE) Action Plan for Moldova (2021-2024) launched officially. Moldova has been a member of the CoE for 25 years. Since the beginning, Moldovan governments promised to reform the judiciary, fight against corruption, build the rule of law, and, in the end, undermined everything. Present at the event, President Maia Sandu, in turn, stated at the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly’s forum the same commitments: “I am determined to build rule of law in Moldova. The fight against corruption and the reform of the judiciary are my priorities. Our people want and deserve institutions that work for them.”

Moldova – The Rule of Law Promised For 25 Years Does Not Exist. How Do We Overcome The Stalemate?

Stela Jantuan, political analyst

Moldova became the 36th member state of the CoE 25 years ago, committing itself to build a rule of law, with a clear mechanism to protect human rights and to build a fair justice system. But the reality turned out to be completely different. The Moldovan political class not only did not keep its commitments but also undermined the judiciary, turning it into a political and repressive instrument against its own citizens, allowing the capture of the state and law institutions. The launch of the CoE’s third Action Plan for Moldova may be the last chance to start building an adequate legal system in Moldova. One thing must be clear: building a rule of law cannot be the priority of just one person in the state or a political party. To get out of this vicious circle of obscure political interests, we need the combined effort of the political class and society as a whole. Moldova has finally entered a new political paradigm that allows this and we must take advantage of this.

Alexandru Tănase, former president of the Constitutional Court

Over the years, the PACE meeting room has witnessed several statements from Moldovan officials, which aroused the smiles of European dignitaries, starting with the anthological proletarian greeting of former President Voronin (2002) to Lord Russell Johnston – “good day, comrade lord! ” and ending with the smile on the face of Prof. Piotr Wach when in 2013 a former Moldovan official assured us from Strasbourg that very soon we will enter the post-monitoring stage. The current President’s message was not different, in terms of content, from those of her predecessors. In fact, she mentioned the same traditional list of problems, valid since the ‘90s: justice reform, the fight against corruption, the rule of law. Unfortunately, the challenges and the fundamental problems are completely different. Moldova has a totally underdeveloped labor market, unable to attract investments in technologies, where in fact high profits are obtained. There is no large-scale industry. Our population is old, and the demographic catastrophe awaits us in the future. Part of the national territory is under Russian military occupation, with a regime that declares itself part of the Russian world and spits with contempt in our faces, and thanks to the free trade agreement they consolidate their economy. They sell us electricity, arm themselves, and consolidate their independence on our money. It’s really a pity not to take advantage of such idiots! And there’s something else. Moldova has failed miserably in terms of identity. And this is another problem, a fundamental one. But we’ll talk about that separately.

Andrei Strâmbeanu, writer, ex-deputy

There is only one explanation that in 25 years Moldova has failed to become a proper state: it is not a country, it is an artificial entity, made according to the criminal laws of those who created it: Stalin and Hitler. It is a state that has nothing in common with European democracies. The CoE can approve even more than three Action Plans for Moldova and would be without change. It is a state with a very convenient democracy for thieves and criminals. We believed in the early 1990s that we created the Moldovan state, but it was a product Moscow designed and handed over to all kinds of cowards and rogues who serve Russia. Moldova was for too long into the wrong hands. We can escape only by reuniting with Romania.