The Economist: Romanian President Traian Basescu's interventions in Moldova have been "counterproductive"

The Economist recently published a feature on Romanian President Traian Basescu. It covers the recent election and Mr. Basescu's foreign policy approach.

An excerpt:
"On foreign policy, he has been a stalwart Atlanticist and strong critic of Russian mischief-making. But his interventions in neighbouring Moldova, an ex-Soviet republic that some see as a lost Romanian province, have been counterproductive. Mr Basescu backed the issuing of Romanian passports to Moldovans (just the sort of thing Russia does in its former empire). That brought him some 90 % of the votes cast there (a handy 8,000). But his near-irredentist stance dismays those who want to stabilise Moldova, not undermine it. Europe’s poorest country, Moldova faces another year of political limbo after its parliament yet again failed this week to elect a new president."

The whole article is available here.