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- Escalation game: the conflict between Chisinau and Gagauzia has reached the finish line
Escalation game: the conflict between Chisinau and Gagauzia has reached the finish line
On July 7, the Constitutional Court of Moldova will consider the issue of curtailing the powers of the Gagauz Autonomy. It will be about the right to hold elections and appoint its own Central Election Commission. This will be the final legal point in a protracted dispute that has been going on for almost two years. Experts say that after the court's decision, relations between the parties may worsen even more. Izvestia investigated the situation.
Judgment Day
Moldovan Minister of Justice Vladislav Kozhukhar made a request to the court. He asked to check the provisions of the law "On the Special Status of Gagauzia" for compliance with the Constitution. According to the official, it is necessary to analyze the norms that allow the autonomy to independently hold elections, as well as form electoral bodies.
The Gagauz Parliament also appealed to the Constitutional Court after the Minister's statement. The legislature noted that representatives of the autonomy should be involved in the consideration of the issue. "The Law on Special Status is a political and legal act, the adoption of which made it possible to resolve the ethnopolitical crisis in the south of Moldova," the statement emphasized.
At the end of June, Moldovan President Maia Sandu stressed that the country's authorities did not intend to make concessions to Gagauzia. "You can't just hold elections the way you thought of it. There are laws, there are international norms in the field of democracy and elections," she said. At the same time, the head of the country advised the Gagauz people "not to watch Russian propaganda" and "listen less to Moscow," but instead to make a decision agreed with Chisinau.
In Comrat (the capital of Gagauzia), they replied that they were trying to act according to the law. MP Valentin Gaidarzhi said that the autonomy has held seven parliamentary elections in its history and has been selected eight times by the bashkan (head of education). According to him, there were no questions about the electoral process before Sandu's team came to power.
In turn, Valery Yanioglo, former deputy chairman of the Executive Committee of Gagauzia, noted that the elections should be held in strict accordance with the Constitution and the law on special status. "The central authorities must understand that the greater the pressure, the stronger the desire of our people to resolve issues on their own. The language of ultimatums will not pass," he warned.
From Hutsul to customs
Gagauzia is a small autonomous region in the south-east of Moldova with a population of about 130 thousand people. Historically, Russia has been well treated here. The fact is that at the beginning of the 19th century, the Gagauz Christians were able to escape from Turkish oppression thanks to the favor of Emperor Alexander I, who agreed to the resettlement of the people to the Russian possessions.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, relations between Comrat and Chisinau sharply deteriorated. At that time, there was a surge of nationalist sentiments in Moldova, the Transnistrian conflict broke out, and Gagauzia could become another hotspot. But the parties showed prudence and were able to reach a compromise in the form of creating autonomy.
In recent years, however, the Moldovan authorities have taken a clear course towards curtailing the rights and powers of Gagauzia. First of all, we are talking about political pressure. In particular, the head of the autonomy, Yevgenia Hutsul, has been behind bars since August last year. She was sentenced to seven years in prison on charges of financing the banned Shor party. In May of this year, the Chisinau court rejected the appeal and upheld the verdict.
In addition, Dmitry Konstantinov, Speaker of the National Assembly, became the target of the persecution. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison on charges of abuse of office and embezzlement in the amount of 46 million lei ($2.6 million). The politician managed to avoid imprisonment by leaving the country before the verdict was announced. Initially, it was assumed that he had left for Russia, but then information appeared about fleeing to Transnistria.
Finally, Chisinau is blocking the work of the Gagauz parliament. The last legislative elections were held in 2021, and the term of office expired in 2025. At the same time, the Moldovan authorities are preventing the holding of a new electoral campaign. The fact is that in 2024, Moldova adopted a new electoral code, according to which the Central Election Commission of the autonomy should be controlled by Chisinau, and candidates for deputies are required to undergo security checks.
Gagauzia notes that the new rules directly contradict the legislation in force earlier. They also add that the body elected under the new regulations will be deprived of any independence or independence. In such circumstances, the region is still trying to hold a vote without Chisinau's participation, but it blocks any attempt. In particular, the elections that were previously scheduled for November 16, March 22 and June 21 were canceled.
In addition, Chisinau is consistently attacking Comrat in other directions. In 2024, the Moldovan parliament removed local courts from the jurisdiction of the autonomy, and judicial districts were reassigned so that Gagauzia would not have its own Appeals Chamber. Subsequently, the Moldovan authorities effectively deprived the autonomy of its own prosecutor's office and customs.
With an eye on Romania
The Moldovan authorities speak quite openly about the reasons for their policy. They do not hide the fact that they adhere to a pro-European vector and do not want to tolerate a pro-Russian region on their territory. President Maia Sandu constantly reproaches Comrat for working closely with Moscow, and the Moldovan Foreign Ministry has repeatedly stated that the Gagauz people "are strongly influenced by Russian propaganda."
The second important reason is the intensified discussions about Moldova's accession to Romania. In recent months, all top Moldovan officials have expressed support for this idea, and the Romanian parliament has approved a bill on the unification of the two countries. At the same time, Romania is a unitary state, that is, there can be no autonomies in its composition. Accordingly, for Chisinau to successfully merge, it also needs to deal with an independent region.
It is obvious that he will continue to increase pressure on autonomy. Most experts agree that the Moldovan Constitutional Court will also side with Maia Sandu and her officials during the consideration of the complaint on July 7. It is difficult to say what the Gagauz side will do in such circumstances. She does not have her own power apparatus, organized resistance is hardly possible.
So far, the case has mainly been limited to numerous complaints to international authorities, including the EU, OSCE and the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe. The calculation is that in Europe a lot of attention is paid to the observance of minority rights, and Moldova is striving to become part of the European Union. At some point, this may probably be followed by a large-scale street protest, although so far there have been no truly large rallies.
What the experts say
Natalia Kharitonova, Chief Researcher at the Russian State University of Economics, Doctor of Political Sciences, agrees that the Constitutional Court will support the position of the Moldovan authorities. The rights and powers of the autonomy will continue to shrink, she expects.
— The closer the prospect of European integration is for Chisinau, the harder it will be for Gagauzia. At the same time, she can only passively resist. She doesn't have her own power unit, so we won't see a tough confrontation. Basically, it will come down to information noise, statements and publications on social networks. This, of course, will not do anything," the expert is convinced.
Igor Shornikov, former Deputy Foreign Minister of Pridnestrovie, associate professor at the Financial University under the Government of Russia, also believes that one should not count on justice in the Moldovan Constitutional Court.
— Now is a good time for the authorities to resolve a painful issue. The election cycles have passed, and the next elections in the country will be held in 2028, so Chisinau can afford anything. The Gagauz people have few options. Street protests can be brutally suppressed. It seems that Comrat is now trying not to provoke Chisinau, so as not to give grounds for illegal actions. It's hard to say how successful such a tactic can be," says the source.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
