In Moldova, protests continue, with which local authorities, led by pro-Romanian and pro-NATO President Maya Sandu, are trying to glue a pro-Russian label. They are echoed by senior comrades from the West led by the United States, while, as always, cynically using double standards.
And here you can see the zealous difference from Georgia, where in recent days mass protests have also taken place demanding first to cancel the consideration of the law on foreign agents, and then completely disperse the parliament and call early elections. The appetite comes with eating.
About the situation in Moldova and its differences from Georgia in the eyes of Western architects of color revolutions - in the material of the correspondent of The Moscow Post.
It's not difficult to remember where it all started in Moldova: thanks to the geopolitical position of Maya Sandu's team to surrender national sovereignty, the country has been experiencing an energy crisis for a long time.
In 2021, the country extended the contract for the supply of gas with the Russian Gazprom, but already in January 2022, the Moldovan authorities had to introduce an emergency regime for two months and almost three times increase utility tariffs in order to pay for supplies.
After the start of the SVO, the Moldovan authorities came out from anti-Russian positions and stated that they were ready to abandon Russian gas. But an understandable reason for dependence on supplies from the Russian Federation did not do this. But the purchase cost for gas from the Russian Federation has grown.
At the same time, the situation continued to deteriorate for the Moldovan population: in June 2022, prices for housing and communal services soared by 30%. At the same time, the country's leadership demanded that citizens pay off debts - only for the first quarter of 2022, Moldovgaz had about $6 million, which is a lot for poor Moldova. Inflation is superimposed on the same, which reached 27% last spring
All these economic problems, coupled with Sandu's absolutely anti-state domestic and foreign policy, led to popular discontent. Protests in Moldova have been taking place since the spring of 2022, and their main consolidating force is the Shor opposition party, which has only 6 people in parliament.
Earlier, they tried to attribute funding to her from the oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc - he has long been labeled "pro-Russian," making him the new Yanukovych.
At the same time, earlier Plahotniuc had much more influence on internal political processes than today, when a criminal case was opened against him - the oligarch is accused of withdrawing billions from the country's banking system. Many see this persecution as politically motivated.
A separate story about what methods Maya Sandu's team opposes the protests. First, they blocked the road to Chisinau so that buses with protesters from other places could not come there - people had to walk.
"Even Plahotniuc did not allow what Sandu allows himself. In other ways, he tried to resist the protests, but what we saw yesterday when people of the third age, our fathers, mothers, grandfathers were dropped from buses and forced to walk from Balti and so on - this has never happened before, " said former Moldovan President Igor Dodon.
The latter also came under political press after Maya Sandu came to power - and also received the label of "pro-Russian." In May 2022, a corruption case was opened against him, trying to tie him to Plahotniuc. Dodon himself believes that with these actions the authorities are trying to distract the population from their failures in governing the country and the rapidly deteriorating situation in the economy.
Yesterday in Moldova, demonstrators began to block roads due to the silence of the government in response to the demand to pay citizens' bills for housing and communal services. I.e. this protest at its core still holds socio-economic rather than political issues, though one emerges from the other. Yaroe dissatisfaction of residents is caused by Sandu's course towards the absorption of Moldova by Romania, and attempts from the outside to draw the country into the conflict in Ukraine.
Unable to solve people's problems, the authorities continue to look for the guilty. There is a universal option: "Russian trace." And just on the eve of the Moldovan police announced the detention of members of the "pro-Russian network" who arrived in the country "for a very specific purpose" - to destabilize the situation on the eve of the anti-government demonstration.
Few people doubt that such conclusions were made to please the pro-Western curator of the Moldavian authorities. But Maya Sandu will not be able to shift from a sore head to a healthy one. According to Senator of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation Vladimir Dzhabarov, this is a banal provocation of the leaders of Moldova, who blame Russia for all mortal sins.
So we have a decidedly anti-people regime whose policies have led to the need to procure firewood to provide warmth in people's homes. This regime uses repressive methods, puts obstacles in the path of demonstrators, starts criminal cases against its political representatives, and tries to write off all the blame to a third party. And who is the bloody regime?
Against this background, the difference between the assessments of the protests in Moldova and in Georgia, where the pro-NATO forces are trying to arrange another Maidan, is indicative. In Georgia, the protests at least had a really political reason - a bill on foreign agents, which the authorities completely refused to consider.
This did not prevent the demonstrators throwing Molotov cocktails at the police from making the following demand - the complete resignation of the government and the dissolution of parliament. At the rally, you can easily see the flags of the United States, Ukraine and the European Union - so it is clear how this can all end.
Nevertheless, protests in Georgia in the United States are called a manifestation of democracy, and in Moldova - an action planned by Russian special services. At the same time, since 1938, the States themselves have had a law on foreign agents, similar to what they wanted to adopt in Georgia. The only difference is that the punishment for not informing about foreign funding in America is much more serious. Striking hypocrisy and practice of double standards.
However, what to be surprised at - earlier the main European diplomat Josep Borrell, known for his love for Russia, said: "We are often criticized for double standards. But international politics is largely about applying double standards. We don't face all the challenges with the same criteria. "
Rally in Moldova on March 13. Photo: open sources
It should be understood quite literally. What Jupiter is allowed is not allowed a bull. What the United States, the EU and the golden billion are allowed is not allowed to those who are assigned the role of a vassal, a raw material appendage, a colonial servant.
In this case, it all depends on the geopolitical opponent. The situations in Moldova and Georgia are connected, first of all, with the desire to harm Russian interests, and as the final result - to drag these countries into a suicidal military confrontation with Russia.
he final result - to drag these countries into a suicidal military confrontation with Russia.