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Moldova’s president-elect hopes policy of using "small countries" will go away

The Moldovan president-elect said that NATO’s expansion to East Europe is directed against Russia

© Vadim Denisov/TASS

MOSCOW, November 17. /TASS/. Moldova’s President-elect Igor Dodon hopes that the election of Donald Trump as US President will influence the geopolitical relations between the countries.

"Talking about Trump, I can tell from his declarations that he is a direct, straightforward person, very pragmatic. I think that pragmatism should come to big politics," Dodon told Zvezda TV channel in an interview broadcast on Thursday. "I hope that the situation in the world will change. One should not try to use small countries and small peoples as cannon fodder in their geopolitical interests. I categorically reject this for my country," he stressed.

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The Moldovan president-elect said that NATO’s expansion to East Europe is directed against Russia, and not "against some imaginary enemy somewhere in Africa or in Asia." "This is being done against the Russian Federation, and everyone understands that," Dodon said adding that Moldova should not become part of NATO.

He said that some Western partners have tried to change the situation in Moldova over the last several years and convince the country’s leadership that Russia is an aggressor. "I often talked with Western ambassadors who said that Russia is an aggressor, that it took Crimea, why does Moldova trusts Russia so much. ‘We are trying to change things, but it’s not working’. I explain, ‘It won’t work because we have too much in common (with Russia)’," Dodon explained.

On November 13, the second round of presidential election was held in Moldova. According to the Central Election Commission, Igor Dodon, leader of the Socialist Party that advocates restoration of strategic partnership with Russia, earned 52.18% of votes. His rival, Maia Sandu from the Party of Action and Solidarity won 47.82% of votes.

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