MOSCOW, April 24. /TASS/. Moldova’s withdrawal from the CIS, an option the country’s authorities are currently looking at, will turn Moldova into a banana republic dependent on Western loans, Igor Dodon, the leader of the Party of Socialists and Moldova’s former President, said on Monday.

"Moldova’s economy will not survive without the CIS market, without the possibility of having good relations in the east. Full orientation to the West will make a banana republic out of Moldova, with its economy becoming completely dependent upon grants and loans from Western partners. <…> Moldova has already lost its economic security and independence. Not to mention military and diplomatic [independence]," he said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 television channel.

According to Dodon, the pro-European government’s policy toward severing ties with Russia and the CIS has already caused serious problems in the Moldovan economy due to a drop in fruit exports to Russia and a hike in energy tariffs. He noted that more than a fourth of the country’s budgetary spending in 2022 had been covered by EU and US loans.

Moldova’s attitude to the CIS began to change in 2020 when Maia Sandu became president of the country. Since then, she has not attended any CIS summits. The anti-CIS rhetoric has only increased this year, with Foreign Minister Nicolae Popescu announcing the denunciation of a number of CIS agreements.

This approach has been criticized by both the opposition and some government officials. Thus, Moldovan Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Vladimir Bolea said that withdrawal from the CIS, a major importer of Moldovan agricultural products, would mean problems for Moldovan farmers, who are facing a serious crisis. The minister said that a decision on this matter should be made by the Moldovan people.