“The powers of Gagauzia must be guaranteed in the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova. This is an urgent necessity,” said politician Fiodor Gagauz, who recently announced his intention to run for the position of Bashkan of Gagauzia, during the Большая игра program on GRT.

The former MP said that the entire struggle between the central authorities and the region stems from this issue.

“This is not merely my subjective opinion. This is also stated in the opinion of the Venice Commission: as long as the powers of the autonomy are not enshrined in the Constitution, there is always a risk that they may be abolished by Parliament or by the Constitutional Court, which is what we have seen recently. The Commission’s opinion is a recommendation, but this recommendation is binding on all countries that are members of the Council of Europe,” he noted.

Fiodor Gagauz stressed that guaranteeing Gagauzia’s powers in the Constitution “will protect us from political decisions by any party in power that might want to amend the law in accordance with its own interests.” “This is precisely how autonomies are protected in Europe,” the politician said.