Main focus of Thursday, April 9, 2009

Protests in Moldova

Protests against the election victory of the Communist Party have shaken the Republic of Moldova for the past three days. As the protests slowly die down in the capital Chişinău, President Vladimir Voronin has accused neighbouring Romania of fanning the riots.

Postimees - Estonia

The daily Postimees compares the situation in Moldova with that in the other "wine republic", Georgia. Although international observers have not criticised the elections in Moldova the paper notes that there was a lack of genuine debate: "Perhaps the communists will even benefit from the rioting because it enables them to brand the entire opposition as vandals and hooligans. After the Soviet Union collapsed this party never tried to ensure a free flow of information, so there has been no intellectual liberation and there are no foundations for open debate. This is the main difference between Moldova and Georgia: the political elite there has changed twice, in the 1990s and in 2003, and the dissatisfaction with President Mikhail Saakashvili comes across more like a battle for the throne." (09/04/2009)

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Adevărul - Romania

The daily Adevărul writes about police action against the demonstrators in the Moldovan capital of Chişinău: "The scenario has a long tradition in communist dictatorships. It was played out in Berlin in 1953, in Budapest in 1956, during the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia and when [General Wojciech] Jaruzelski declared martial law [in Poland] on December 13, 1981. Now the events are following the same 'pattern'. There is talk of a confrontation with the power of a state that is controlled by several Kremlin-affiliated 'interest groups'. … [Russian President Dmitry] Medvedev and [Prime Minister Vladimir] Putin are still caught up in their dreams of an empire. If we look at what is happening in Transnistria or in the Kaliningrad enclave we understand that the ambitions of the ex-Soviet military-industrial complex are still alive and kicking." (09/04/2009)

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De Telegraaf - Netherlands

According to the tabloid De Telegraaf the riots in the Republic of Moldova are testimony to the great internal division in a country which is trying to steer a middle course between moving closer to the West and strengthening ties with Russia: "The communist President Vladimir Voronin has performed a balancing act between the two poles in the last few years. Although he recently accused Moscow of pursuing military interests in Transnistria - a Russian-speaking enclave that de facto has sovereign status - Voronin is dependent on Russian gas. Moscow is also regarded as an ally. A serious flirt with Romania could mean the end of Moldova as a state, whereby Brussels and Moscow would once again be pitted against each other on this issue, as they were with Ukraine. In the meantime both Europe and Russia have described the elections as fair. This deprives the demonstrators of much of their legitimacy." (09/04/2009)

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All available articles from » Pieter van der Sloot

Süddeutsche Zeitung - Germany

After the victory of the communists in the Republic of Moldova the left-liberal Süddeutsche Zeitung sees little chance for democracy in Russia's vicinity, as the region's political culture was never touched by the "colour revolutions": "Was Western solidarity too limited, and the pressure from Moscow too great? Is the time for radical system change over for good? That would be depressing, but it's not the case. Every one of the colour revolutions has failed in its own way. But what they all have in common is that they were not in fact revolutions. Their systems didn't change, just the personnel. All of the protagonists occupied high, even the highest, offices, some of their careers go right back to Soviet times. ... They have no place for conflict resolution, respect for opponents is foreign to them, and they often perpetuate abhorrent traditions marked by corruption, paranoia and violence. America and Russia do all they can to polarise these societies while most of the time Europe focuses on other matters. However that should not prevent the shouldering of responsibility for this failure." (09/04/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Domestic Policy, » Social movements, » History, » Russia, » Eastern Europe
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Népszabadság - Hungary

The left-liberal daily Népszabadság reflects on the background to the violent demonstrations in the Republic of Moldova: "Above all the protesters were young people, who believe that every passing 'day of communism' brings Moldava further from the European integration they long for, rather than bringing it closer. ... Even though the majority of Moldovans speak Romanian, they are not interested in becoming Romanians. On the contrary, they tend to gaze in the direction of Moscow. ... [Meanwhile,] there's a simple reason for the riots: the young Moldavans want to be Europeans. But they are deluded in thinking that the quickest way to this goal is by becoming part of EU´member Romania." (09/04/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Europe, » Eastern Europe, » South East Europe
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