Vladimir Voronin
The trigger was the Constitutional Court’s July 9, 2026, ruling on the powers of the autonomous territorial unit of Gagauzia. Vladimir Voronin considers this ruling to be politically motivated and biased, violating the very foundations of Moldova’s Constitution.
“What you, the judges of the country’s highest judicial body, have done with regard to Gagauzia has already been viewed by many as an unconstitutional coup and the first step toward the destruction of autonomy. But personally, I cannot describe what has happened as anything other than an abomination on your part—an abomination and an insult to the Constitution, the Gagauz people, and the entire people of Moldova,” writes the former president of Moldova.
Vladimir Voronin believes that the Constitutional Court’s ruling lacks legal grounds and compelling arguments, and that it directly contradicts the Constitution and common sense. “Open attacks by representatives of the ruling party on the Gagauz people, interference in the affairs of the autonomous region, dictatorship, and coercion into submission—this is how PAS has been treating a part of its own people—the Gagauz—for several years now. Law enforcement agencies, the police, the Security and Intelligence Service (SIS), and the courts have become tools of the government in implementing this destructive policy. Now the heavy artillery has been brought in—the Constitutional Court. A body that, on the contrary, is obligated to uphold constitutionality and the rule of law. Alas. And you have become accomplices in the usurpers’ dubious, unlawful, and very dangerous game against Gagauzia and against the statehood of the Republic of Moldova as a whole,” the author of the open letter asserts.
Addressing the judges of the Constitutional Court, Vladimir Voronin emphasizes that by destroying the fragile interethnic peace, they are undermining the foundations of Moldovan statehood. “Gagauz autonomy is not merely an administrative unit; it is a historic compromise that saved Moldova from bloodshed in the early 1990s. Encroaching on Gagauzia’s rights is playing with fire, capable of provoking a profound crisis and dividing society. You are taking responsibility for dismantling the sovereign Republic of Moldova,” emphasized the president of Moldova from 2001 to 2009.
