Moldova is struggling with the legacy of Communist rule. “Grinding poverty, porous borders, corruption, and inadequate rule of law have contributed to widespread human trafficking, human rights abuses, and poor governance,” write Samuel Charap and Yekaterina Chertova.
The country’s problems are compounded by the frozen conflict in “the unrecognized self-proclaimed pseudo-state” of Transdniestria, they write in a paper for the Washington-based Center for American Progress
Struggling with a slim majority, the Alliance for European Integration deserves greater help in realizing its commitments to economic reform, democratization, and closer relations with the West, they argue:
Political bickering and grandstanding, and the habits of cronyism, corrupt rule, and weak governance must come to an end if the country is to have any hope of escaping from its current state. The parliament’s failure to elect a president last week was an unfortunate development, but it should be the cause for greater U.S. engagement, not neglect.
Following its abortive Twitter Revolution, Moldova’s case confirms that “democratization cannot make progress in strongly unfavorable external environments,” Alina Mungiu-Pippidi and Igor Munteanu recently argued in the Journal of Democracy:
Color revolutions are constrained by geopolitical limits. Unlike authoritarian Belarus, the Russian Federation, or the despotic post-Soviet regimes in Central Asia, Moldova regularly holds competitive elections but finds itself no better off when it comes to democracy.
The European Union in particular has a responsibility to support democracy against the rival “demonstration effect” of its authoritarian eastern neighbors.
“Unless the EU shows a stronger commitment to the cause of democracy in Moldova,” they write, “the country will remain a black hole in Europe’s democratic landscape.”
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