MOSCOW. Feb 5 (Interfax) - Following a referendum in Gagauzia, an autonomous region in Moldova, the Moldovan leadership should show Europe that it hears its citizens, says Alexander Babakov, a Russian presidential envoy for interaction with organizations of fellow-countrymen abroad.
"By declaring principles of democracy, human rights and civil society in its pompous speeches to European politicians, the Moldovan leadership has acted in an absolutely different way, demonstrating a double standard policy in relation to the Gagauz autonomous region. Now the Moldovan government has a chance to show the progressive European community that it hears it citizens' voice and, what counts most, respects such truly European democratic procedures such as a referendum," Babakov told Interfax on Tuesday in commenting on the outcomes of a referendum in Gagauzia announced on Monday.
Babakov said the fact that 98.47% of those who voted in the referendum preferred accession to the Belarusian-Kazakh-Russian Customs Union speaks for itself. Moreover, 98.9% voted in the referendum for passing legislation on Gagauzia's deferred independent status, i.e. the possibility that it may secede from Moldova if the latter loses independence, he said.
"The residents of Gagauzia felt the desire to determine their future after Romanian President Trajan Basescu's provocative statements that Moldova is Romanian land and that the reunification of the two countries should be Romania's third national project after joining NATO and the EU," Babakov said.
The referendum results have shown that the residents of Gagauzia do not want to be part of Romania, Babakov said. "And this choice has been dictated not only by longstanding historical ties between Russia and Moldova but also by purely pragmatic considerations. The Gagauzes prefer to join an economic union with Russia and retain their independence rather than lose sovereignty and be absorbed by Romania," Babakov said.
Gagauz Central Elections Commission Chair Valentina Lisnic familiarized journalists with preliminary results of a referendum dealing with Gagauzia's self-determination in case Moldova loses its sovereignty and with Moldova's foreign political course on Monday.
The CEC reported that 68,023 voters, or 98.9%, voted for the autonomous region's right to self-determination in case Moldova loses its independence, and only 1,324 voters, or 1.1%, did not support this proposal.
Asked to express their opinion about the vector of Moldova's foreign policy, 68,181 voters, or 98.47%, preferred integration with the Belarusian-Kazakh-Russian Customs Union, and only 1,056 voters, or 1.52%, gave the opposite answer.
At the same time, 1,895 voters (2.77%) see Moldova's integration with Europe as a favorable scenario, while 66,448 voters (97.22%) are against accession to the European Union.