About the latest scandal related to Vladimir Palhotniuc, the
Republic of Moldova and the USA - read the my linked editorial in English about
this case, about the importance of appointing a non-professional in the
position of US Director of national intelligence, taking into account upcoming elections
in USA and from the perspective of anti-corruption and of the need to limit the
role of kleptocratic oligarchs in shady lobbying practices in Washington DC.
This OpEd (editorial) was started last week for the US
publication PassBlue, where I react to news about Mr. Grenell's nominations and
then, later, when the situation evolved, to Congressman Ratcliffe for the role
of director of intelligence services in an election year in the US and Moldova,
including anti-corruption speech in both parts of the world. Most importantly I
focus on the anti-corruption discourse in foreign policy and internal political
affairs.
The case of Ukraine was an unfortunate example for the US in
this respect - while the concerns about corruption in that country are real (as
we know all too well), the Ukrainians, in fact, ousted a corrupt leader in 2014
and consequently were “punished” with a war for their efforts, which
essentially started from a movement including an anti-corruption important element.
This has been neglected in the US partisan political battles, as has the
regional expertise, including on Moldova.
I once had, sometimes in 2009-2011, a private discussion in
Moldova with one of the political analysts (CC), where I assumed that
anti-corruption would be used as an excuse for internal political infighting,
even if both entities involved are corrupt or compromised (see Plahotniuc-Filat
or Plahotniuc-Dodon cases, with Dodon’s financing from abroad / Gazprom flight
/ video about Russian money and problematic loans from the Moldovan Savings
Bank) - now this simulation of anti-corruption seems to have spilled over to
the US, including with the help of oligarchs from the Republic of Moldova.
The fact that a Magnitsky Act (tougher anti-corruption
legislation than before) is not adopted in Moldova also clarifies a lot...
P.S. for those who are not familiar with the format of Opinion
Editorial - being published in the media, an OpEd is a limited essay, with a constraint
on the total number of words. So, it cannot be too long and analytical. This article,
hence, cannot claim to be a (full) research of the topics addressed, because of
the very limited space for publication. Respectively, it cannot reflect in
detail about the diverse role of lobbying firms, which not in all cases and not
always, is harmful. This OpEd, therefore, reflected briefly on some concerns
regarding US national security, which can have negative impacts in an election
year on the situation both in the US and in the Republic of Moldova. During my
diplomatic activity for over 24 years for the Republic of Moldova and IOs, I
have officially collaborated with US Republican governments and I know how they
worked and what they said (as my function required, I also collaborated with
Democrats, quite fruitfully at the UN, see US’s statements on Ukraine and
Moldova in 2014-2016 at the UN Security Council). This article therefore
reflects real concerns without political affiliation.
Vlad Lupan,
Independent Expert,
Former Ambassador of the
Republic of Moldova to the UN