Moldova PM Sparks Feud With Romania Over Corruption Claim

Romanian parliamentarians have called on Bucharest to withdraw the Romanian citizenship of the Moldovan Prime Minister, Ion Chicu, after he suggested that Romania was one of the most corrupt countries in Europe, and used harsh language about Romanian officials.

“As a Romanian deputy, I ask the authorities to authorize the withdrawal of Romanian citizenship for Ion Chicu,” deputy Constantin Codreanu, who has Moldovan origins, wrote on Facebook on Sunday.

Chicu made the controversial remarks after getting into a fight on Facebook with Romanian MEP Siegfried Muresan.

“I sit and watch these little Romanian boys scattered in the European structures who come with ‘patronage’ over us … Losers – no achievements in their lifetime or in their country,” Chicu wrote on Facebook on Friday night. “What have you done in your country, which is groaning with the worst corruption in Europe?” he added.

The verbal sparring began after Muresan, chair of the European Parliament Delegation to the EU-Moldova Parliamentary Association Committee, said the Moldovan government Chicu chairs had failed to implement reforms and tackle corruption.

The current government in Chisinau is composed of the pro-Russian Socialist Party, PSRM, and the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party has distanced itself from Chicu’s words but also criticised Muresan’s statements about lack of reforms.

Romania meanwhile said it was summoning the ambassador to Chisinau, Daniel Ionita, back to Bucharest for consultations. The foreign ministry said it considered Chicu’s statements “completely unacceptable and expresses its strong disagreement with their content”.

Bucharest added that Chicu’s accusation were all the more improper as, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, Romania had offered Moldova of 3.5 million euros in support and sent a team of 42 medical staff in a humanitarian mission at the start of May.

Muresan stated after the incident that Romania would continue to help Moldova, and he hoped there would be no more disputes with Chisinau.

Moldova formed part of Romania between the two world wars, before Soviet annexation, and many Moldovans now have joint citizenship. About 700,000 people of the population of 2.7 million citizens of Moldova, not including the breakaway region of Transnistria, have Romanian passports.

Moldovan opposition deputy and a former ambassador to Bucharest and Brussels, Iurie Renita, said the whole incident was an attempt to cover up a viral video leaked last week of President Igor Dodon allegedly taking bribe in a plastic bag from the fugitive oligarch, Vlad Plahotniuc, in 2019. Dodon has dismissed the allegation. Chicu used to be an economic advisor to Dodon before assuming his present office.