IPN on October 30 published an OP-ED article entitled “Multiple speeds of Eastern Partnership, civil society and Moldova’s case” signed by politicla pundit Dionis Cenusa. The author of the article says that when the political elites discredit themselves, other elites strengthen their positions. This is the case of Moldova, where civil society shortly became more credible than the ruling party. This was most evident in the context of the image crisis suffered by the Democratic Party when it adopted the electoral system change. As a result, the voice of the civil society leaders entered a direct competition with the Democrats in convincing the public opinion. The government benefits from the rapprochement between representatives of civil society and the opposition and, simultaneously, from the denying of any complicity. This inevitably weakens the voice and positions of civil society when this intends to sensitize the public opinion in different issues. The impartiality of civil society is the key weapon in fighting the artificiality of reforms fueled by the government and a valuable source for the pro-reform extraparliamentary opposition. Read more…
xxx
Representatives of national legislative and executive bodies and foreign experts in the mass media and film production from seven states took part in the first international conference organized by the Association for Development and Cooperation on the issue of attraction of foreign investment to the media space of the Republic of Moldova. Attending the event, Speaker of Parliament Andrian Candu said a working group was constituted this year with EU support to develop the national legislation on the mass media, to draft a new Audiovisual Code, a new law on the press and the online press. Media expert Filip Slavkovic, of Deutsche Welle, said the digital economies are not sufficiently known in the Republic of Moldova and in the region, but these can be a future for small businesses in the whole region. Read more…
xxx
Twelve young people, six of whom from Moldova and six from the EU member states, will visit 20 schools in Moldovan villages during October 30 and November 17. In the meetings, these will tell the students about the EU culture and values, studying opportunities and volunteering. Throughout the campaign, the students will be engaged in a contest of the best ideas of activities aimed at improving life in their communities. In a meeting on October 30, there was launched the second campaign “Young European Ambassadors” that is implemented within the EU-funded projects “Eastern EU Neighbors” and “Visibility of EU and EU Assistance in the Republic of Moldova in 2017”. The campaign takes place with the assistance of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research. The goal of the visits is to sensitize the young people so that they identify creative solutions for their communities. Head of the EU Delegation to Moldova Peter Michalko wished the young people to have a nice experience. The motto of this year’s campaign is “Together for a better future”. Peter Michalko noted that this expression represents the EU’s interest in the Eastern Partnership countries. The project “Young European Ambassadors” was launched in June 2016. The first campaign of the kind was staged the same year. Twenty-five rural schools were visited then. Read more…
xxx
The Moldova – EU Parliamentary Association Committee highlighted the necessity of providing a series of additional benefits to Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia for making progress in the process of doing the reforms stipulated in the Association Agreement and the Free Trade Agreement. A statement to this effect was adopted at the end of the fifth meeting of the Council. Among the benefits that should be provided are the creation of a fiduciary fund for Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia for financing infrastructure development projects, elimination of roaming charges and development of a network of broadband connections. The Committee also recommended continuing the reform process, fighting corruption and avoiding the polarization of society in the course of 2018, which is an electoral year for the Republic of Moldova. Read more…
xxx
The European Union pays increased attention to human rights and democracy in the countries that are partners of the EU, said the Head of the EU Delegation to Moldova Peter Michalko. In a national conference held in Comrat, the ambassador noted that this thing is very important in the bilateral relations and has an influence on all the areas. According to him, the EU offers support to its partners so that the human rights standards advance in the Republic of Moldova too. Peter Michalko said the preamble to the Association Agreement tells namely about the human rights, on which the bilateral relations are based, and it is very important to ensure everything that is related to democracy, human rights and the rule of law. The official also said that the EU Delegation is interested in keeping in touch with all the components of society for which these elements are important and the non-governmental sector is the most active part of society in this regard. Read more…
xxx
IPN on October 31 published an OP-ED article entitled “Chisinau and Comrat resume dialogue. What should we expect of MPs’ working group in new political season?” signed by Veaceslav Craciun. The author says it is very important for the administration of Parliament, in the person of the Democrats, in the electoral autumn of 2018 to have convincing arguments showing that the creation of the working group that consists of Moldovan and Gagauz MPs was a rather useful project. The main task of this group is not to forget the main goals and to show capacity to solve the contradictions until the ordinary parliamentary elections. According to the author, one of the plans for the immediate future is for the working group to pay a visit to Brussels. It is known that the Moldovan and Gagauz MPs will have there a series of meetings with European officials and will visit one of the important institutions of the European Union. The level of the planned visit can be deduced from the visits made last year by members of the working group to three autonomous regions – Wales, Sudtirol and the Aland Islands – where our MPs studied the functioning mechanisms of the regions. The given trips were made with the organizational and financial support of the Europeans and included meetings with the local authorities of the autonomous regions. In other words, the European partners univocally show that they expect concrete results from the interparliamentary dialogue between Chisinau and Comrat and will support it by all ways, noted Craciun. Read more…
xxx
The reforms promoted by the Government and the activity priorities for the immediate period were presented by Prime Minister Pavel Filip in a meeting with EU High-Level Advisers on November 2. The meeting also involved the Head of the EU Delegation to Moldova Peter Michalko. The EU Advisers spoke about the progress made in the areas in their charge and about the solved problems. Ambassador Peter Michalko said the European Union is ready to continue to offer Moldova assistance to implement the Association Agreement and reforms for the people’s benefit. Currently, 21 EU High-Level Advisers provide assistance to the Government in implementing the reform agenda. Read more…
xxx
On November 2, IPN published an analysis entitled “What do drivers, politicians and button for weapons of mass destruction have in common?” signed by the director of IPN Agency Valeriu Vasilica. The author of the article analyzes the road traffic situation in Chisinau municipality, the behavior of drivers and the qualities of those who dare to go by the resigned cars from the adjoining lane, waiting to turn left, and switch on the lights showing that they wants to go right. He describes the behavior of such a car. “It performs some nervous maneuvers so as not to miss those several seconds when it can get in front of the cars that have waited for the green light for a period. And it often succeeds …”. According to Valeriu Vasilica, this is a dangerous phenomenon that holds interest for lawmakers, psychologists, police officers, mayors, local councils, etc. And this is an unhealthy phenomenon that can have a noxious influence on other phenomena and important spheres of life. But it is also of interest because it reveals rather exactly camouflaged functioning mechanisms in other areas, especially politics. Read more…
xxx
On November 3, IPN published an interview with the Head of the EU Delegation to Moldova Peter Michalko conducted by political pundit Dionis Cenusa. The diplomat said the priorities of his mandate include to obtain substantial progress in implementing the Association Agreement and the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement between the EU and the Republic of Moldova, to ensure a constant, open dialog aimed at achieving results both with the public authorities, political factors and with civil society, the business community and other partners, and to ensure efficient communication with the citizens of the Republic of Moldova on what the European Union is and how it can contribute to the democratic development of the Republic of Moldova. Peter Michalko voiced hope that the Brussels Eastern Partnership Summit of this November will give a new impetus to the reform process in the Republic of Moldova and the whole Eastern neighborhood. There are steps forward and backward, but the leaders of the EU member and partner states (28+6) could transmit a powerful message of confidence, cohesion and solidarity for the region. Read more...
xxx
Four foreign ambassadors will give speeches before journalists at the Media Forum 2017 that will take place in Chisinau on November 14 and 15. These are the Head of the EU Delegation to Moldova Peter Michalko, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany Julia Monar, Ambassador of the Netherlands Stela Ronner-Grubacic and British Ambassador Lucy Rebecca Joyce OBE. The event will also involve Moldovan officials and experts from the United States, Germany, Poland, Romania, Latvia, and Israel. Read more...
The summary of news from the IPN series “European Integration” is produced with support from the Hanns Seidel Foundation of Germany and can be further disseminated on condition that the source is indicated.
