[In what exactly does your job of consulting Moldovan institutions to fight corruption consist?] I am presently doing short-term work for the Academy for Educational Development, which has been working with civil society representatives in Moldova, both from NGOs and media, for the last 18 months on this issue (fighting corruption – e.n.) This project has been a part of the larger USAID and Millennium Challenge Corporation TCP program with the Government of Moldova. Other parts of the TCP are working directly with the government to establish structural ways to prevent corruption in state bodies. Our part is focused on citizen monitoring of government actions as yet another way to stop corruption. Such citizen monitoring is widely practiced around the world, including in the United States. [Why is it necessary that the Moldovan media should be able to monitor the fight against corruption?] I believe that corruption is very difficult to prevent anywhere in the world. It requires balances of power inside government structures. It requires consistent measures to punish those who take part in corrupt practices. And, it requires citizens doing objective monitoring of government actions. Media, as part of civil society, is critical to this last component. Often, it is the media which can uncover corrupt behavior first and report on it objectively. To do that well, however, journalists need skills to raise their professionalism and ensure that their research is accurate and objective. [What is your assessment of the Moldovan authorities’ willingness to fight corruption?] I am not qualified to directly assess the authorities’ willingness to fight corruption because our project is focused on Moldova’s civil society and media. I think that the local NGOs and media outlets with which we have worked and who have been monitoring the government’s fight against corruption over the last year would be able to give you a much better informed answer to that question. [How is it possible to fight corruption in a country where this phenomenon is so widely spread and accepted in society's mentality?] I believe in such instances, it takes significant time to fight corruption. Everybody in society must begin to think differently about the ways in which business is conducted and about the relationship between citizens and the state. The project on which I am working is soon ending, and it will have only been able to push that process forward a little. Realizing the goals of the project will be left to the people of Moldova, who will need to decide for themselves that they would rather work hard at changing their attitudes than to live with corruption and its consequences for Moldova’s long-term development.