Moldovan Presidential Hopeful Vows to Scrap EU Association Deal

Socialist presidential hopeful Igor Dodon, who is ahead in the polls with 30 percent of votes, seeks to repeal the EU-Moldova Association Agreement and enter the Russia-led Eurasian economic community.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Moldova’s presidential candidate Igor Dodon said on Saturday he would seek to scrap the EU-Moldova Association Agreement if elected.

"One of my first foreign policy decisions will be to start trilateral talks with Russia and the European Union to revise the association agreement with the EU. I want to have this pact repealed to revive a bilateral deal with Russia," Dodon said on the sidelines of a conference in Moscow.

Moldova is preparing to elect a new president on October 30. Dodon, who leads the Party of Socialists (PSRM), is ahead in the polls with 30 percent of votes.

The Socialist leader said he wanted Moldova, a small Eastern European state that emerged after the Soviet collapse in 1991, to enter the Russia-led Eurasian economic community and called its pact with Brussels "a big mistake."

The EU-Moldova Association Agreement, including the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA), was signed in June 2014 and ratified in Chisinau the following month.