The Republic of Moldova was the first country that in 1999 ratified the Aarhus Convention or the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters. This was signed in the Danish city of Aarhus in 1998 and is designed to ensure democracy in the environmental sector. A lot of efforts have been made since then to implement this unique international ecological democracy instrument in the Republic of Moldova. There were adopted a number of legal acts, but these were formulated so that the Convention cannot be fully implemented, said doctor of biology Ilia Trombitski, executive director of the Eco-TIRAS International Environmental Association of River Keepers.

In a news conference at IPN, Ilia Trombitski said the Convention is an important treaty in the field of ecological and environmental education. Three are many reservations despite the expectations that this document will be implemented successfully.

Within the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee, everyone can make reference to reports on the non-observance of the Convention. The Committee takes such cases into account and formulates recommendations, which are examined by the next meeting of the governments of the countries that ratified the Aarhus Convention.

In 2008, Eco-TIRAS Association sent a message to the Compliance Committee, over the non-observance by the Republic of Moldova of the Convention’s provisions concerning the access to environmental information. As a result of the examination, in 2011, the parties adopted recommendations for Moldova. The Government was requested to adopt and put into practice a national plan for enforcing the Convention. The Government accepted, but did practically nothing.

In 2017, Eco-TIRAS sent again a communiqué to the Compliance Committee, saying the country failed to fulfill a series of obligations. “The Government chose to adopt the position of an ostrich and to ignore its obligations. Neither the appeal made from Geneva to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Moldova changed the situation. During three years and a half, the Government did nothing! Currently, Eco-TIRAS, in the framework of a joint project with the Czech NGO “Arnika”, is preparing an alternative report on the fulfillment of Moldova’s obligations deriving from the Convention, which will be presented in the meeting of the parties to the Aarhus Convention in Tbilisi, Georgia, in October 2021,” noted Ilia Trombitski.

“Arnika” president Martin Skalski said this Convention is a guarantee of the access to information about ecology so that the people could take part in decision-making and protect their rights in court. This very importing document forms part of the European legislation. The Czech Republic was among the first states that adopted laws on the environment and that ensure access to environmental information. The access to information is an important factor. Otherwise, the people’s participation in the improvement of the environment is difficult.