Alastair Campbell’s diary: It’s time for a European army

But, if I may add to the discomfort, she is smart, has real guts, formidable leadership skills, is by common consent utterly incorruptible, and did something truly remarkable – in creating a party from scratch, and going on to win two elections and a referendum, despite Russia spending hundreds of millions of euros trying to prevent her from doing so. 

You can make your own judgement if you listen to this week’s episode of The Rest Is Politics Leading, but to see off a hybrid war effort as costly and complex as that put together by the Kremlin really did require something special. Oh, and as to whether she thinks Russia interfered in the Brexit referendum… need you ask?

We set up for the interview in her office, based in what used to be the government headquarters when Moldova was part of the Soviet Union. The first thing that struck me when she walked into the room was how small and slim she is, though the Thatcher-blue trouser suit did emanate a touch of political strength.

Later, in one of the two biggest wineries in the world (both are in Moldova if anyone fancies a wine holiday), she joined for the end of our tour, and for dinner. When she stepped out of the car, now wearing a puffer jacket and dark jeans, before I realised it was her my immediate thought was that a young female worker was being dropped off for the night shift. She looks so small for a leader; and so young for someone in her 50s. 

As for the incorruptibility, in a country scarred by corruption, including once the theft of public funds worth 12% of GDP, get this: the following morning she was due to fly to a meeting of European leaders in Cyprus, to press once more for the formal opening of the process to join the European Union. It was going to involve three separate flights, kicking off with a budget airline, because she certainly wouldn’t accept a free flight from a private-jet-owning oligarch, nor think an official plane should be used by her, simply because she is the president.

One of the difficulties on the road to the EU is that in the eyes of Brussels, Moldova’s application is very much coupled with that of neighbouring Ukraine. She is totally supportive of Ukraine, certain that if Vladimir Putin wins there, he will not stop, and Moldova is reliant on Ukraine and Romania for defence. 

But Moldovans are somewhat perplexed that their application should be so closely tied to that of a country currently at war on the scale that Ukraine is. When I asked what more she would like to see from EU leaders in relation to her drive for membership, and that of Balkan countries, she used the word that they so often use about her: “courage”.

Of course something as complicated as accession to the EU requires an enormous amount of technical work. But in Sandu’s assessment, Ukraine is the frontline of a war that Putin is waging against the whole of Europe, and Europe needs to be far stronger and far more unified in its response.

Which brings me to Britain. Clearly, the UK government is now taking significant steps towards fixing the mess of Brexit, as was clear from Keir Starmer’s new year interviews and from the news that further legislative moves will be made to deepen realignment with the EU.

But I wonder if, given the geopolitical earthquake that Donald Trump has triggered with his Venezuela-Greenland double whammy new year gambit, there is not the case to be made to go a whole lot further. The concept of a “European army” has for decades been one of the tropes favoured by those who fought to get us out of the EU. Right now, it strikes me as an idea whose time may be coming.

I spotted a familiar-looking card taking pride of place on president Sandu’s desk, the cat photograph that Keir Starmer had used for his Christmas greeting. She immediately launched into as positive an assessment of the UK PM as I have heard in ages. The UK, she said, had been of enormous support on several fronts, not least in helping to combat some of Russia’s cyber-attacks and attempts to flood the zone with dirty money. Starmer himself, she said, had been an enormous support personally, and I heard the same from officials both about Jonathan Powell, UK national security adviser, and Fern Horine, UK ambassador here.

“I hope British people realise how lucky they are to have him as prime minister,” said the president. Looking at the polls, the answer would seem to be no, they don’t. Yet I can’t help feeling that if British people fully understood as well as the Moldovans do what is at stake if Ukraine falls to Russia, they would choose Starmer over Nigel Farage as PM any day of the week. There is still such a job to be done in educating the public about the realities of Russian power, and how they exercise it… past, present and future.

Though President Sandu may be unwilling to take anything but official diplomatic gifts, she rightly assumed that I wouldn’t mind taking one from her. “I have a little present for you,” she said, reaching for a carrier bag from which she took a board game, “Where Is Moldova?”

Devised by a UK firm, Seager Games, it is a game of dice-rolling, general-knowledge questions, and strategic challenges. Rather fittingly, the board is a map of much of the world, and the goal is to land on as many countries as you can. To win you need to conquer five connected territories.

As to why a British firm decided to produce a board game called “Where Is Moldova?”, the story I was told is that it was because David Beckham made his international debut for England here, and much of the media commentary around this great event centred on the question “Where Is Moldova?”

It is quite a complicated game, as I learned when trying to give it a go with Rory Stewart and the podcast team, but I did at least manage to conquer Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. If only life were so simple.

As for the wine tour, the Cricova winery is home to 12m litres of wine, variously laid out in bottles, tanks, vats and barrels, in an underground network of roads and tunnels measuring 120km between them. In the sparkling-wine section, there are 500,000 bottles, which have to be turned – by hand – every two days. For some reason, only women are allowed to do this!

Plenty of famous faces have visited, including Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. Vladimir Putin celebrated his 50th birthday here, though his personal wine collection was removed following the Ukraine invasion. Two thousand bottles owned by Hermann Göring, however, which were taken by the Russians at the end of the war, remain on show. Make of that what you will, Vlad!