RFE/RL's Russian Service has collected the views of some experts about the situation in Moldova.
Arcadie Barbarosie, executive director of the Chisinau-based Institute for Public Policy, says:
On foreign relations, Barbarosie said this:
Russian political analyst Aleksandr Kynev had this to contribute:
-- Robert Coalson
Arcadie Barbarosie, executive director of the Chisinau-based Institute for Public Policy, says:
The results are such that the Communists will have to go into opposition and, most likely, the political crisis will not be settled. On the other hand, a significant feature of these elections was the emergence of a new, young political elite, a generational change. We see this in the results achieved by the Liberals, the Liberal-Democrats, and the Democratic Party. In only two of the parties that entered into parliament have we not seen an obvious generational shift – the Our Moldova Alliance and the Communist Party. But this could be coming in the near future.
On foreign relations, Barbarosie said this:
I have the feeling that a lot of analysts are failing to see the forest for the trees. Of course, good relations with Romania are very important for Moldova. Romani is this country's main trading partner. Moldova wants to integrate with the European Union, and there is no getting past Romania. Moldova's border with the European Union is the same as its border with Romania. Moreover, during the process of integrating with the EU, Moldova can and must use the experience, including the negative experience, of Romania. So there are many arguments in favor of overcoming our quarrels with our neighbor. They are dangerous and cannot positively affect our country's future.
Russian political analyst Aleksandr Kynev had this to contribute:
It seems clear that everything the Communists were wishing on the opposition during the election campaign will now come back on them, since it is obvious that not only won't they have the 61 seats needed to elect a president, they won't even have the simple majority needed to choose a speaker of parliament. So everything depends on what configuration emerges and who decides to unite with whom. I have the feeling that the Golden Key to whether there will be a broad opposition coalition or a coalition between the Communists and some opposition parties is in the hands of the Democratic Party, headed by ex-parliament speaker Marian Lupu. Since he is a former Communist and former Voronin ally, it might be easier for him to reach an agreement with the Communists than with the others. The other opposition parties are simply unacceptable to the Communists because of their radical opposition. If Voronin is able to reach an agreement with the Democratic Party, he might be able to come up with a way of hanging on to the post of speaker. On the other hand, if all four opposition parties are able to form a grand coalition, then they will split up all the leadership posts among themselves.
-- Robert Coalson