Chisinau: Moldova’s autonomous region of Gagauzia will appeal to the UN Security Council and the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe to protect its rights from actions taken by Chisinau, according to the region’s deputy head, Ilya Uzun. This decision follows a move by the Moldovan Constitutional Court that has impacted Gagauzia’s autonomy in appointing its own prosecutor.
According to Namibia Press Agency, the Moldovan Constitutional Court recently ruled in favor of the Prosecutor General’s Office, removing Gagauzia’s authority to appoint the region’s prosecutor, thereby excluding the Gagauz parliament from involvement in forming its prosecutor’s office. Ilya Uzun criticized this decision, describing it as evidence of power usurpation by the ruling Party of Action and Solidarity’s constitutional court. Uzun announced plans for Gagauzia to present its legal arguments to international organizations, including the UN Security Council and the Venice Commission, and to call for external intervention to restore legality and protect their rights.
Uzun further expressed concerns that the Moldovan government is provoking the Gagauz population into protests, potentially providing an excuse to abolish the region’s autonomy. Gagauzia, which declared independence from Soviet Moldova in 1990 and later integrated into Moldova in 1994, has often aligned itself with Russia, in contrast to Chisinau’s European integration efforts.
Tensions have escalated following the election of Yevgenia Gutsul, a member of Moldova’s opposition Sor party, as head of Gagauzia in the spring of 2023. The Constitutional Court of Moldova subsequently declared the opposition party unconstitutional amid conflicts between the pro-Western Party of Action and Solidarity and the pro-Russian Sor. President Maia Sandu has also withheld signing a decree to include Gutsul in the cabinet, further straining Gagauz-Moldovan relations.