CHISINAU, December 23. /TASS/. Moldova should remain a neutral country, as enshrined by its constitution, and avoid becoming embroiled into the conflict in neighboring Ukraine, the republic’s former President Igor Dodon told the N-4 television channel.
"This is not our war, and we should not take sides. We must preserve our neutral status," the former president said, adding that the majority of the republic’s citizens who talked to him lately share the same opinion.
"Do you know what I hear most often? If only there were no war - this is what they say! People want peace and neutrality," he said.
Dodon criticized his successor Maia Sandu and the ruling Party of Action and Solidarity for blaming the current economic crisis in Moldova on hostilities in Ukraine.
"The authorities justify all their actions by the conflict. They want to shut down television channels and muzzle their political opponents, and they need the conflict to do so. Maia Sandu and the Party of Action and Solidarity are the ones who want this war to continue, because it serves as a universal excuse for all their actions," he said.
In his opinion, "tensions are high in the Moldovan society, and they may eventually result in a social upheaval."
Partnership with Russia
Dodon, who headed the Moldovan-Russian Business Union after stepping down as the Moldovan Socialist Party leader, believes that anti-Russian policy should be a no-no for any Moldovan government.
"We need strategic relations with Russia. It is the market for our goods and the source of our energy. We must not join anti-Russian sanctions. And we absolutely must not quit the CIS [Commonwealth of Independent States], as Maia Sandu is planning to do," the ex-president said.
"What are the benefits of joining anti-Russian sanctions and constant anti-Russian rhetoric of the current government? There are none," he continued. "We should negotiate for the benefit of Moldova and its citizens, but Sandu does not want it, she cannot do it and she is not allowed to do it by her Western patrons."
"The pro-Western course is being conducted with disregard for the country’s true national interests," Dodon added.
Parliament speaker and the ruling party leader Igor Grosu said in March that Moldova should weigh all the pros and cons of its CIS membership. This year, Moldova has ignored all events held within the framework of Russian-led CIS, to which it is a member, and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), where the country has the observer status.