One might say that I've given too much attention to Igor Dodon. Yes I did. Anyway, I promised that I will abandon fully the analysis of domestic politics in Moldova, leaving it to the colleagues who are better placed to comment on what is happening in Chisinau, in the political show. Anyway the major issues have been launched already, the trends are known, we only expect the clashes and the achievements of the expected scenarios.

Yet, we could not conclude the saga of the takeover of the President office by Igor Dodon with the aberration carried out by a president who does not recognize his own state. Who denies the Moldovan Declaration of Independence, the state where he was elected President! In addition, the pinnacle, as a first step when he reached the presidency, even on Christmas Eve, he is replacing the Romanian language on "Moldovan language" on the web site of the president. By politicizing from the beginning the identity, history, language, i.e. topics he would have had to leave to the specialists, experts, historians (who have already pronounced themselves).

There were others who fought with the Romanian language and the Romanian identity of the Moldovan citizens. As well as with the Romanian history. The agrarians of Motpan and the socialists of Solonari and Shornikov did it in 1994, when they launched Our Home Republic of Moldova and  resumed the Soviet theory of outgoing Moldovenism of Artiom Lazarev, in 1975, not to mention about the Stalinist one in 1924. Then the theory of Vladimir Voronin with the famous Concept of National Policy was resumed and placement of the Romanians in Moldova as the sixth nationality! 

Whatever, there is no point to talk here about the aberrations and the perceptions of those who say that they are Moldovans: the majority are Moldovans i.e. Romanians, so the regional identity is Moldovan, like the brothers from the right side of Prut, and the national one is Romanian. And they do not mix it!

Then another important part is identifying themselves as Moldovan, but statalists, because they live in Moldova, not that they are another nation. And those, so-called ethnic Moldovans, who even claim that they are of the family of Slavic people (another aberration of an obsolete and retrograde branch of Moldovenism) are in a ridiculous minority besides others. Also the conciliatory solution of the majority of Romanians / Moldovans, who identify themselves alternately on cultural grounds, but with a synonym of absolute identity, is the only one that can lead to an acceptable compromise for a President of all the citizens of Moldova.

I had such a discussion with Igor Dodon in 2003-2004, when he just embraced the Moldovenism theory. I told him, back then, to leave the identity problems and to deal with the economy, because there he might even be good. We had a joint panel at the European School of Viorel Cibotaru when we pointed out the same aberrations and the need to leave the topics of such invoice for a serious politician. I see that the tips have not been listened up at that time, or were forgotten under the virtue of access to power.

The return to such complex topics and sensitive for the society are doing nothing but to take Igor Dodon out from the trail of Moldovan president and make him, at the most, the Chairman of his party or of his voters strictly. Although in the campaign he did not say anything about the removal of the Republic of Moldova from the Association Agreement with the EU, and he even  said that he wants to make a visit to Brussels, and I do not know if an announced referendum will bring him ever the satisfaction or will end the subject of eternal strategic realignment of Moldova to Russia and the return to the Empire.

Another utopia was shattered on the occasion of his enthronement and the late visit of Dmitry Rogozin to Chisinau. The idea of a gentle bullock that is sucking of two cows, was definitely compromised and removed from the illusions and the idealism of Dodon. Rogozin said unequivocally that the good relations with Russia, claimed by Dodon as the goal of his presidency, can be achieved only by breaking the EU Association Agreement, therefore by separation from the EU and cold relations to West.

What Rogozin did not say and Dodon avoids to say, is that the proximity to Russia transforms Moldova into a pro-Russian enclave in the middle of a large pro-Western structure. Because Moldova is at the frontier of NATO and EU, and it is isolated to the other side by Russia through its second neighbor, Ukraine, equally unhappy with the declarative outflows of the new president of Moldova about Crimea placed in the Russian trail. And the improvement of the relations with Russia cannot be made against the good relations with Ukraine!

We do not discuss here the component of prosperity, free trade and good neighborliness that Moldova would sacrifice. Not even the aberration to federalization of the breakaway region where the representative of local business won precisely because he wishes the integration into the European market, where is exported the most of industrial production of Moldova, located in Transnistria. But I think is worth to be mentioned here another problem: the free movement.

At the last European Council in Brussels and at the last EU Council on Justice and Domestic Affairs, to allow the ratification of the EU-Ukraine agreement by the Netherlands and thus the ratification of the agreement across the EU, was approved the formula and the conditions to accelerate the introduction of visas for the countries which do not meet their commitments, the game rules or send too many migrants to work in Europe. The direct result for Moldova? Dodon's game of hide-and-seek with the EU and the Association Agreement, his excessive identity approaches, if they become policies in Moldova, it may result in suspension of free movement in the EU and even the cancellation of those facilities. This must be understood by the Moldovan citizens: that the cancellation of the Association Agreement with the EU, and even previously, inappropriate and unfriendly gestures against the EU, may invalidate the free movement in the EU. Throughout the EU, including Romania.

What does that mean in terms of remittances and supporting Moldova? I leave you to guess... But in all kinds of aid? And who takes the weight of supporting Moldova? Russia? Vladimir Socor wrote these days: Russia is unable to support today's political projects, not even the Transnistrian breakaway region, nor the entire Moldova! And this play with Dodon will cost a lot. Those citizens who did not go to the polls, those who were unhappy with his rival, Maia Sandu, those who have tolerated the pro-Russian socialist as the President of Moldova. And it's just the beginning of a presidential term into which either Igor Dodon enters into irrelevance, or he blows up and sends the state into ceasing of Payments. And he will not come from home with money to solve the major problems of the Moldovan economy.