Moldovan MPs, Including Pro-Russian ex-President Igor Dodon, Visit Georgia
Several members of Moldova’s parliament, including the country’s former president, Igor Dodon, now leader of the pro-Russia Socialist Party, are visiting Georgia from April 1 to 5.
Dodon, who just had a working visit to Moscow before arriving in Tbilisi, said the Moldovan parliamentary delegation was invited by Georgia’s ruling Georgian Dream party.
The delegation includes opposition MPs Bogdan Țîrdea (Socialist Party), who leads the MPs, as well as Vasile Costiuc (Democracy at Home Party), Petru Burduja (Socialist Party), and Olga Ursu (National Alternative Movement).
On April 2, the delegation met with several Georgian Dream members of the disputed parliament, including Isko Daseni, head of the Georgia-Moldova Friendship Group, as well as the group’s other members, Mariam Lashkhi and Gia Benashvili.
Dodon first reported about the meeting on Facebook as a “historic event,” saying, “We discussed cooperation and Georgia’s valuable experience in protecting national interests, ensuring economic resilience, and preserving traditional values.”
He added, “We noted that this is an example of consistent and pragmatic policy focused on safeguarding sovereignty and advancing state development.” He further wrote, “We agreed to strengthen contacts and further develop cooperation on the parliamentary platform.”
Georgia’s parliament also reported on the meeting. “The parties discussed the existing bilateral relations between the two countries and the prospects for deepening cooperation between the Parliaments of Georgia and Moldova, including within the framework of friendship groups,” a press release said.
Moldovan online media outlet NewsMaker.md reported that Parliament Speaker Igor Grosu, a member of pro-European President Maia Sandu’s Action and Solidarity Party (PAS), was also invited but declined to visit, citing as a reason “very disrespectful statements” he said were made by Georgian authorities, including the prime minister and parliament speaker, toward Moldova.
Relations between Tbilisi and Chișinău, both of which applied for EU membership together in 2022 shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, have cooled amid Georgian Dream’s anti-European drift. Georgian Dream leaders and members have repeatedly lashed out at Sandu and Moldova under her leadership.
Tbilisi did not congratulate Maia Sandu’s party on its victory in the decisive parliamentary elections in September.
In January, Maia Sandu, addressing the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), said that “Russia pulled Georgia back into its orbit.”
Further Meetings
On April 3, Shalva Papuashvili, Speaker of Georgia’s disputed Parliament, met with the Moldovan delegation. GD MP Isko Daseni also participated in the meeting.
According to a parliamentary press release, the sides “noted that in a complex geopolitical environment, dialogue and mutual support between Georgia and Moldova are important.”
“The Moldovan side stated that in a turbulent and tense international situation, the Georgian government has, for years, pursued a policy aimed at protecting the country’s national interests and values.”
On the same day, the delegation also met with Georgian Dream’s offshoot People’s Power MPs Eka Sepashvili and Zurab Kadagidze.
“The sides discussed prospects for strengthening cooperation between the two countries, as well as deepening political and economic ties,” a parliamentary press release said, adding that they also spoke about “common challenges” facing the two countries, including those related to territorial integrity, as well as Georgia’s and Moldova’s “progress on their path toward EU membership and the current situation.”
More to follow…
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