Paul
Goble
Staunton, October 6 – Many in the
West assume that popular risings against sitting governments in the post-Soviet
states will work only to put in place a more democratic and Western-oriented
regime, but in such unsettled times, at least one outside player – Russia -- sees
a chance them to install a less democratic and more pro-Moscow variant.
That possibility was suggested by
Serhii Pirozhkov who served as Ukraine’s ambassador to Chisinau from 2007 to
2014 in an interview to Kyiv’s Channel 5 yesterday (youtube.com/watch?v=7miyAO9Qss0 and qha.com.ua/ru/politika/kreml-popitaetsya-vospolzovatsya-protestami-v-moldavii/149085/).
The former ambassador suggested that
as the events in the Moldovan capital have become radicalized, “it is possible
that Russia is realizing its own scenario of the development of events in a
foreign country.” Thus, events there may not be as “spontaneous” as many
imagine but instead may reflect the efforts of outsiders to exploit the situation
for its own benefit.
“As many have remarked, Russia is
not the inventor of other varieties of scenarios,” Pirozhkov continues.
Instead, it elaborates on the basis of what others have done and “uses not only
the Ukrainian experience but that of previous years which [others] have applied
in other countries.”
“Desirous of making use of this situation,”
the Ukrainian diplomat says, “Russia is directing its own supporters in the form
of the Socialist Party headed by Igor Dodon” and also “a certain Renato Usaty
who heads pro-Moscow political forces” in Moldova – all a reminder that in
unsettled times, many can play a role, including some that few are tracking.
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