The fears and myths that bother the people of a country that wants to become a EU member appear because of the lack of experience and information as the people know not much about the European Union, said Poland’s Ambassador to Moldova Artur Michalski.

In an interview for IPN, the diplomat underlined that Poland also experienced such fears in the pre-accession period. “The European integration process in our country lasted for ten years. For ten years we have been members of the EU. There were Euro-skeptics and the arguments they used against the integration into the EU were similar to those used in Moldova, especially as regards the situation of farmers and peasant farmsteads. They said that we will not be competitive, our products will disappear and we will lose sovereignty because we will not be allowed to do one thing or another,” said the Polish official.

According to him, there are now farmers in Poland who are dissatisfied with something, but it’s impossible to transform the country into a paradise the next day after the integration into the EU. “They can now be dissatisfied with something, but they don’t criticize the fact that we are in the EU. On the contrary, the people like it and the Euro-enthusiasts represent over 80% of the population of Poland. There are also people who are indifferent, but nobody challenges the integration into the EU. The people can discuss certain aspects of the integration, but everything depends on internal discussions, without affecting the main principles,” stated Artur Michalski.

As regards the information of the people, the ambassador said there is always place for the better here. “Many persons from the government told me that there was a time when they centered more on the negotiations with the European partners and allotted less time to the dialogue with the own society. But everyone probably saw that this dialogue is intense now and the young generation is better informed. Certainly there are people (and this is essential for the freedom typical of democracy) who need more time to understand and they cannot be yet convinced,” said the diplomat.

Artur Michalski noted that there were people in Poland who believed that the integration into the EU will bring no good. Today they keep silent or prefer to forget what they said.