The organization of the European Political Community (EPC) Summit in the Republic of Moldova in June is an occasion for promoting the country from diplomatic and political viewpoints at international level. Nevertheless, society should not expect that the European leaders will come with full pockets and will change overnight the economic situation in the Republic of Moldova. But investment opportunities will appear, said experts invited to IPN’s public debate “European Political Community Summit, responsibilities and opportunities for civil society”.
Vice director of the Institute for European Policies and Reforms Mihai Mogîldea said that from political and diplomatic standpoints, the summit is a good occasion for discussing security and energy issues with EU leaders.
“It is also a good moment for the Republic of Moldova to extend the number of potential investors and to devote increased attention on this dimension. The European Political Community does not come to replace the Republic of Moldova’s accession to the EU, but is an additional platform, besides the existing ones, for our country to manage to accelerate its European path through the agency of dialogue, cooperation and the exchange of good practices with the governments of the EU member states,” noted Mihai Mogîldea.
Andrei Curăraru, European integration and security expert of WatchDog Community, told about the reasons why Moldova was chosen as a venue for the EPC Summit. “This was a French initiative that started in the Czech Republic. It is a sensitive issue as Prague is the place where another aggression of the USSR took place and now the Republic of Moldova is close to the war zone. This summit is a platform for broader discussions than the EU can ensure as it brings together the EU states, the UK and players that experience human rights problems, like Turkey or Azerbaijan,” explained Andrei Curăraru.
As to the advantages for Moldova, the expert said that the Republic of Moldova is situated very well on the diplomatic map and this is a test for our authorities. “It is a good opportunity to know the Republic of Moldova and to transmit a very clear message that we are more European than it may seem and we can cope with the organization of such a summit. We cannot wait for economic advantages from this summit, but there will be messages and statements that will later enable us to obtain particular financial resources,” said Andrei Curăraru.
Sergiu Iurcu, head of the Socioeconomic Protection Department of the National Trade Union Confederation of Moldova, spoke about the importance of civil society and its contribution to instituting a discussion agenda at the EPC Summit.
“Civil society plays a very important role in the process of integrating into the EU and is rather present. Last year it staged a tour of a number of EU states and showed that the Republic of Moldova has European integration aspirations and the necessary measures are taken here for fulfilling the requirements put forward by the EU. Civil society raised the problems existing in the Republic of Moldova on the international arena even more often than the authorities did. Civil society represents another viewpoint and it should be further engaged to support particular processes, while the government’s duty is to listen to what civil society says,” stated Sergiu Iurcu.
The public debate entitled “European Political Community Summit, responsibilities and opportunities for civil society” was the second installment of IPN’s project “Support for European Integration by stimulating discussion in the mass media about the European Political Community (EPC) Summit” that is supported by Soros Foundation Moldova.
