The manifestations of extremism and intolerance in Moldova are mainly caused by the low political culture of some people, prejudices and stereotypes, said analyst Igor Botan, one of the authors of the study “Efficient Institutional Reaction to Combating Intolerance and Extremism in the Black Sea Region”, quoted by Info - Prim Neo. The study was carried out by experts of the Public Policy Institute in Bucharest, the Ukrainian Pylup Orlyc Institute for Democracy and the Public Policy Institute in Chisinau, with the support of Soros Foundation. Botan said that these negative practices are also promoted by certain political movements, especially in the election campaign. They use different methods to exploit the prejudices and stereotypes in their attempts to strengthen their positions and interests. The study contains a number of case studies of manifestations of intolerance and extremism, which are determined by ethnic, religious, gender and other kinds of factors. The study says that the national independent institution the Center for Human Rights was founded in Moldova to ensure the observance of the fundamental human rights and freedoms and to promote the major non-legal elements for defending them (by adopting the law on ombudsman). The law on the rights of the national minorities and the legal status of their organizations came into force in 2001. The Broadcasting Code and other documents ban the broadcasting of programs that incite to hatred on grounds of race, religion, nationality, sex. The civil society organizations become stronger. 10% of the 7,000 NGOs that work in Moldova say that they aim to ensure human rights. Yet, there is still a lot of work to do. Igor Botan exemplified with the devastation of historical monuments, graves in cemeteries, including the Jewish one, cases of intolerance (verbal) of the Roma and other national minorities, disrespectful behavior witnessed especially in the interhuman relations, at communication level, in the daily life. Botan considers that the democratization of the society and the assertion of the state of law on the basis of European values will gradually reduce the risk of manifestations of extremism and intolerance. Natalia Belitser, expert of the Ukrainian Institute for Democracy, said that regretfully the authorities in the post-Soviet states preserved the practice of presenting these things in pink colors. This fact has an impact on the whole society, which does not want to see the given manifestations or even discuss them at the level of experts. Adrian Moraru of the Public Policy Institute based in Bucharest said that during the past years Romania has made considerable progress in this area and there are no more cases of extremism like those reported several years ago, when ten Roma houses in a village were set on fire. The political speeches on this topic became more discreet, while the newspapers, journals, TV channels and radio stations condemn the manifestations of extremism and intolerance, no matter who shows them – the ordinary people or high-ranking officials (the case of President Traian Basescu and the Roma female journalist). Greater emphasis is to be laid on the education of the people, while every person apart should acknowledge the incompatibility of such manifestations with a civilized way of life.