HARDtalk on the Road: Moldova HARDtalk

Today HARDtalk is on the road in Moldova.

It is a long neglected corner of Europe that is caught up

in a trial of strength between Russia and the EU.

Until 1990, the people here were citizens of the Soviet Union.

Now their government dreams of joining the European Union.

Just like in neighbouring Ukraine, all the ingredients are here

for a strategic stand-off that could turn ugly.

A summer's morning in Chisinau, Moldova.

Thousands gathered outside Parliament to embrace a European

dream.

This former Soviet republic, like its neighbour Ukraine, has signed

a partnership deal with the EU.

The air was heavy with European symbolism, but Moldova was

and still is Russia's backyard.

And just like in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin will do all

in his power to keep it that way.

Moldova is the poorest country in Europe.

It is still dominated by agriculture.

The soil is fertile, but this is a land of small farms,

hard labour and low returns.

We found this Soviet-era combine harvester rumbling through

a field of barley.

The harvest crew working dawn to dusk for just a few euros a day.

Grapes have long been the most valuable asset of Moldova.

These vineyards produced wines prized across the Soviet empire.

Today, the wine business still generates 10% of the country's GDP.

All of these barrels are full with wine.

About 30 million litres of wine we have here.

The Cricova Winery boasts the world's second biggest

underground wine store.

In this old limestone mine, millions of litres are maturing

in a network of tunnels hundreds of kilometres long.

Not all the wine here is home grown.

Some of this wine comes flavoured with the most extraordinary history.

The marketing director, Alexandru Alexeev, showed me wine

from the personal collection of Hitler's henchman Hermann Goering.

It was brought here from Berlin in 1945 by the Russian Red Army.

Can I touch it?

This is a wine from 1935.

It is historic.

Don't remove the dirt.

Oh, sorry.

Sometimes some of the wine, we say the price is for the dust

and the history of the bottle.

If you were to auction a bottle of this Goering wine,

how much would it fetch?

I think it can be 25,000 euros to 35,000 euros for one bottle.

Are you serious?

How many bottles do you have?

129.

Oh, my God.

That is a very valuable collection.

These days, Russia consumes 30% of all

the wine produced here in Cricova.

Well, it did until Moscow imposed a ban on Moldovan wine in a thinly

disguised retaliation to Moldova's decision to cosy up to the EU.

You have brought me to store number 275.

Why is this wine significant?

It is part of the private collection of the President of the

Russian Federation, Mr Putin.

How many bottles does he have?

He has 600 bottles.

I find it very interesting that you store wine for Vladimir Putin

as a gift.

It is the gift of our government.

You have lost a massive market, haven't you?

How damaging has the Russian ban on your wine been?

It has damaged our exports in a short period of time.

But it is like a cold shower.

Now we try to find new markets.

We try to find new markets in the European Union.

We have signed an important contract in China.

We promote our wines in the United States.

We try to find new markets and new ways to promote our wines.

Do you think, in all honesty, that Moldova can compete and win

in Europe?

Absolutely.

I know that we can and will do this.

I think in a few years, you will hear about Moldova.

There will be a possibility to find Moldovan wines in good

restaurants in all of Europe.

Moldova has always been a frontier land, culturally and

linguistically connected to Romania to the west, but drawn into Russia's

orbit from the time of the tzars.

The regional landscape is now deeply unstable.

Ukraine, Moldova's eastward neighbour,

is convulsed with violence.

Russia appears more determined than ever to project its power

in its own backyard.

When the Soviet Union disintegrated 24 years ago, a fault

line was exposed inside Moldova.

While most of the country backed independent

statehood, inhabitants of a sliver of territory on the east bank

of the River Dniester broke away.

The rebels were Russians, Ukrainians and Russian-speaking Moldovans.

In 1992, there was a brief and bloody war.

It saw the Transnistrian separatists take on the Moldovan Army.

Over 2000 people, soldiers and civilians, lost their lives.

The fighting ended when Russian forces entered Transnistria.

They were billed as peacekeepers.

In fact, they were guarantors of Transnistria's separation

from Moldova.

Some of today's separatist fighters in eastern Ukraine had their first

taste of battle in Transnistria.

Today, checkpoints and guards signal the de facto border between Moldova

and Transnistria.

This frontier isn't on any international map.

Even though we had been granted rare official access, it still took us

an hour to pass through.

Nothing on this front line is taken on trust.

Away from the main road, the tension is less evident.

But the sense remains of Transnistria being

a territory fuelled by a suspicion of the outside world.

This is Europe's forgotten frontline.

Behind me is Moldova.

Here is the breakaway territory of Transnistria.

This no man's land isn't exactly heavily fortified.

In fact, two of the five Transnistrian border

guards who are posted right here are currently taking a nap.

They aren't the real deterrent here.

The real deterrent is Russia.

Russian and Soviet influence looms large over Tiraspol,

capital of the self-proclaimed republic of Transnistria.

The political heroes, the architectural style,

the very visible military presence all smack of

a mindset forged back in the USSR.

Transnistria keeps the size of its own armed forces

a closely guarded secret.

We were allowed to film these self-styled special forces,

but their training was cut short when it started raining.

These men know that if push comes to shove, they can count

on the support of 2000 well-armed Russian soldiers permanently based

on Transnistrian soil.

The military memorials here tell their own story

of mutual commitment.

Plenty of Transnistrian blood has already been spilled for the Russian

motherland.

Just half a million people live in this statelet.

But they have all the trappings of sovereignty,

including their own currency.

A fistful of Transnistrian rubles might look impressive,

but outside this tiny territory, they are absolutely worthless.

Transnistria boasts a collection of heavy industrial enterprises,

steel plants and factories built by the Soviet planners.

The territory's economy is kept running by free gas supplied

by Russia's Gazprom and huge annual subsidies from Moscow.

Without them, Transnistria's government would be broke.

It is a territory dominated by the elderly.

Many young adults leave to find work.

Most go to Russia but increasing numbers are taking up

the offer of Moldovan passports which gives them access to the EU.

I wondered if that might be diluting Transnistria's

passionate pro-Russian sentiment.

The answer from these people was emphatic.

Do you see your future more in Europe or with Moscow, with Russia?

Would you really rather be a part of Russia?

Is Vladimir Putin the leader you would

like to be responsible for you?

The Transnistrian leader, Yevgeny Shevchuk, wants

his territory to be incorporated into the Russian Federation.

Where Crimea has gone, he would like to follow.

History, language, culture and politics, he says,

make it inevitable.

To illustrate his point, he took me to a disputed town where

this church that was built by the Russian czars and rebuilt by

the defiant breakaway government.

Mr President, do you feel here that your land is Russian?

The Moldovan Prime Minister says he would be happy to guarantee

the security of places like this.

You could come and worship and be free to do what ever you want to do.

Just accept the sovereignty of Moldova.

Why not?

The Dniester River runs like a raw wound through Moldova,

symbolising the failure of efforts to create a unified nation.

Transnistria has no international legal standing, but it will be kept

afloat as long as Russia sees it as a useful asset in its strategic

stand-off with the west.

As the American team, as part of the OSCE...

As part of the tension stoked by the Ukraine crisis, Moldova is no

longer Europe's forgotten corner.

I came across a delegation from the US Congress in Chisinau, trying

to reassure Moldovans that America cares about their future security.

Senator Benjamin Cardin, let me ask you this.

How vulnerable do you feel Moldova to be right now?

Well, Moldova is in a critical condition

in making decisions for the future.

I think they have no choice.

They understand their economic future is with Europe.

The association agreement was ratified in record time.

Clearly there will be issues with Russia.

Russia will try to do everything they can to keep Moldova out

of Europe, but I think it is inevitable that Moldova understands

this, and they are on that path, and it is good for their future.

From Chisinau's international airport, Moldovans can now fly

visa-free into most of the EU.

Hundreds of thousands now make their living abroad.

And EU companies like the low-cost airline Wizz Air

are tapping into the economy.

Slowly, and sometimes painfully, the continent's poorest country is being

integrated into the European family.

Moldova's PM, Iurie Leanca, has staked his career on delivering

Moldova's European destiny.

But the path is littered with obstacles, highlighted by

the crisis in neighbouring Ukraine.

PM Iurie Leanca, welcome to HARDtalk.

Has the crisis in the violence in Ukraine brought a real sense

of vulnerability, insecurity, here in Moldova?

Well, the tragic developments in Ukraine, which is just

in our neighbourhood, of course are very dangerous for Ukraine.

They are very dangerous for the region and for the continent.

Not just because by this violent action we see the entire very

fragile security apparatus, which is in process of being built,

is now basically destroyed, and we need to launch the process again.

But because it does raise a lot of concerns.

Concerns in terms of security, concerns in terms

of our economic situation, because we especially in Moldova,

we are a small country, and we are very dependent and vulnerable,

on the regional province.

So do you feel vulnerable today?

But what is even worse, it brings, and it has brought and it still

brings, the uncertainty.

And there is nothing worse than uncertainty.

Because they don't know what might happen today, what might happen

tomorrow, and they want answers to those possible scenarios, both

positive, or also even so negative.

You talk of uncertainty.

Surely what has become more clear, more certain, is that Russia has

the ability, and certainly the intention, to impose its influence,

and ultimately you could argue its authority, on its neighbourhood,

what they call the "near abroad" - the old Soviet Empire, if you like.

And you stand as a part of that near abroad.

Well, we are not direct neighbours with Russia.

But Russia to us is an important country for many, many reasons.

You are a former part of the Soviet Union.

Yes, we used to be part of the empire.

And we know that Putin says the greatest tragedy of the 20th century

was the collapse of the Soviet Union, and Putin says he wants to

reassert Moscow's authority over what used to be the Russian empire.

We have to understand the reality.

And the realities of the new world is that Moldova

and Ukraine and Belarus and Russia are subject of international law,

and equal subjects.

And that if we want to have a predictable and civilised

relationship in this part of the world, and based on building a

predictable and prosperous region, we need to respect each other's

opinions, we need to recognise - and by the way, we always

acknowledged, and we do acknowledge, Russia's legitimate interests.

The only problem is how you pursue those interests.

Does Russia have legitimate interests in Moldova?

Well, Russia has legitimate interests, the European Union has

legitimate interests, China have legitimate interests.

Big countries.

I would be happy to explain why.

But again, the only problem is how you pursue those interests.

You can project your soft power, your attractiveness.

And that is what basically the EU does.

And that is what Russia should do, in order to get this influence, and

to have a role in the development.

You say, we have to take responsibly for ourselves.

The truth is, when it comes to energy, you are

totally reliant upon Gazprom.

We don't get it free of charge, it is in our interests to buy it,

and their interests to sell it, and we pay a lot.

But, that is why we are focused in much on creating

an alternative source of supply.

On the 27th of August, when we celebrate

the 24th anniversary of our independence, we will put in place

the Iasi-Ungheni gas pipeline across the border with Romania, and on that

specific date we will import the first volumes of gas from Romania.

In two years, we will have a fully functioning alternative

supply channel, both in terms of energy, and also in terms of gas.

It is a process, but again, it is a very interdependent relationship.

But your message to me constantly is you will not be bullied by

Vladimir Putin.

No, it's not about being bullied.

Our native language - we are very much interested to live

in a harmonious way according to certain rules.

It is up to Moscow to decide what sort of relationship with us.

I dare say you have thought about this, but I wonder

if you feel that you have missed the window of opportunity in Europe?

Because if you see the last European election results,

you see an extraordinary performance by nationalistic, some would say

sometimes xenophobic, political parties in Western Europe who are

anti-immigrants, they are worried about open borders,

and frankly, they are very worried about extending

the EU to countries like Moldova.

And it may be that the political temperature in much of the European

Union has moved against Moldova.

I still believe that the window of opportunity is there.

And what makes me happy is that despite these new feelings in

Europe, everyone understands that even bringing in Moldova would be

an objective much bigger than the territory and population of Moldova,

because it would mean we were able to spread the air of stability

and security further into Europe, and not just allow this instability

to be driven into the EU.

Is not the likely outcome for a Moldova, that you will be

stuck in a sort of twilight zone?

You will be the subject of a perpetual tug-of-war between Moscow

and the European Union, and the net result will be that you will not be

able to achieve the aspirations that you have set out with me?

I'm quite optimistic that yes, we will be able to get the European

perspective, to become candidates, and then to become -

it's not that important whether it is five, seven, or eight years.

What is critical to me is to win the elections, to continue this

path, and to become a candidate.

Then we will be only the culmination of our pro-democratic,

pro-reform movement.

And in a word, you will not let Vladimir Putin stop you.

We need just to convince our citizens that our path is

the only one, without alternative, for Moldova.

And I'm sure that we can do it, together with the support from

our European friends and partners.

We will get there, I'm sure.

It's not so hard to imagine Moldova's future inside the EU.

The culture is Latin, the language too.

On a summer evening in Chisinau, there is an unmistakably European

vibe.

But Transnistria is just an hour's drive from here.

Russia remains determined to shape the future of its former empire.

Chisinau is currently calm, but it may not last.