The freedom of speech is the main catalyst of a genuine democracy. As long as the freedom of expression is violated, one cannot talk of a healthy democracy, say EU representatives gathered in Chisinau for a seminar on the freedom of speech, together with NGOs and journalists from Moldova and the Black Sea area, Info-Prim Neo reports. Janos Herman, principle councilor for the European neighboring policy of the general director for foreign relations of the European Commission, stated on Tuesday, May 20, at a news conference, that without the freedom of speech and of opinion it is not possible to accede to democracy. The European official has underlined that the civil society, through NGOs, can contribute to develop democratic reforms in terms of the freedom of expression. According to him, Moldova copes with a series of issues related to the access of the information of public interest. There is political pressure, discrimination, intentional misinformation and other aspects related to the human rights and consecrated in the Constitution and the European conventions. Fulfilling the European requirements related to guaranteeing and observing the human rights is still a challenge for Moldova, said Janos Herman, specifying that the process of transforming a country into a functional democracy takes time, and needs much will and effort, both on behalf of the state structures, and of the civil society. Riina Kionka, the personal representative of Javier Solana, the EU's foreign policy chief, has said the things happening in Moldova now are similar to the ones having happened in the Baltic States in the 90s, but they managed to overcome the period when the human rights were severely violated. She has said the journalists should know that when the national laws are not observed, nor applied, they can resort to the European legislation and conventions, universally valid and adopted by Moldova, taking into account that Moldova made a range of commitments before the EU. The chief of the European commission delegation to Moldova, Cesare de Montis, has repeated the appeal towards the civil society to develop projects within the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR). The amount available is 300,000 euros, and the proposals should focus on “democratic participation”. The president of the Moldovan Journalists Union, Valeriu Saharneanu, has said by organizing such a seminar in Chisinau, the European community can learn the deplorable situation of the local press. “We want the EU officials to know the situation of the Moldovan media, but especially the rulers' intention to control and to intimidate the independent mass-media from Moldova,” Saharneanu underlined. The event was organized by the European Commission under the aegis of the Slovenian presidency in the EU and the Moldovan Foreign Ministry.