Vladimir Voronin is a Moldovan politician. He served as the third President of Moldova from 2001 until 2009 and has been the head of the Party of Communists of Moldova (PCRM) since 1994. He was Europe’s foremost democratically elected communist party head of state after the abolition of the Eastern Bloc. Voronin was raised by his step-father, Nikolai Voronin, an ethnic Russian and a communist activist. He appears to be a pro-Russian politician.
He also met with Vladimir Putin and expressed: “I am particularly grateful to the Russian leaders for political support and their clear-cut position on the political events in Moldova. President Dmitry Medvedev’s statement in Khabarovsk and your support are very important for us in this difficult time. In effect, we were the only ones to thwart the attempt at a colour revolution. Your support points to the durability of our past and present ties.
“You have said with good reason that we have put our relations on a very high level. Moldova and Russia enjoy mutual understanding and support in trade and economic relations, cultural cooperation, and other directions. I think that our current discussion and future actions will further enhance our cooperation. Allow me to repeat that I am very happy to see you.”
Based on his political career, the declared main objectives of his political agenda are seeking closer ties with the Russian Federation and “integration in Europe”; cracking the Transnistria conflict; EU association (and membership if possible); firm opposition to NATO membership; independence, as resisted to unification with Romania.
Some claim that he also holds Russian citizenship in addition to citizenship of the Republic of Moldova, because he was employed to receive a pension as a former Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs worker, from the time he lived as a private resident in Moscow in 1991–1993. His son, Oleg Voronin, is arguably the wealthiest businessman in Moldova. His daughter is a physician but unlike Oleg, not a public figure. On 19 February 2010, Voronin informed journalists that the investigation of his son was an attempt of revenge against his household by the current authorities. Oleg is supposed of fiscal evasion and money laundering.
When he directed the Communist Party into power in 2001 and subsequently acquired the presidency, Vladimir Voronin pledged to take Moldova into the Belarus-Russia Union. Nothing ever came of that, but, in his proposal to lead his party to a third term in power on 29 July, Voronin has again risked on the Russian card, confirming the promise of a massive loan to keep Moldova afloat. During his endless political disputes and years of economic disaster had formed a constituency of nostalgic and dulled voters to whom Voronin appealed with his pro-Russian policies and Soviet-style rhetoric. Voronin also discovered a convenient enemy, in the form of Moldovans whom he alleged were enthusiastic to re-unify Moldova with Romania.
