Social cohesion and the feeling of affiliation to the European community must be achieved through concrete examples and community initiatives. To achieve these objectives, it is necessary to ensure effective communication and constant presentation of the results obtained as a result of the implementation of European projects. Otherwise, the citizens of the Republic of Moldova can become victims of false narratives promoted by foreign agents, public policy expert of WatchDog Community Andrei Curăraru stated in a public debate titled “Advantages and responsibilities of the citizen in strengthening the country’s European future”.
“In my opinion, there are shortcomings in the promotion of European projects, which are often presented as local successes by particular regional politicians. Or when we talk about the fact that a kindergarten or a section of road is being repaired, we only see an inscription in the background, but it is not explained, in fact, that this is the modus operandi of the European Union – to help at regional level. The EU’s regional spending also exceeded the costs for agriculture, which are also quite important. Such information must be communicated constantly, but it is best expressed through concrete facts, for example, the European projects carried out,” said the public policy expert.
According to Andrei Curăraru, civic participation in decision-making processes related to the country’s European integration policies should be strengthened through clear mechanisms so as to influence political decisions related to accession to the EU. “All the social actors involved, but also entrepreneurs, opinion leaders, journalists – we all have a responsibility to report and shed that light that is closest to the truth regarding the European Union. Especially since we see a constant and concerted effort to denigrate this process of European integration. When we talk about disinformation, the fight is always asymmetrical. I mean there are hundreds of actors involved, representing disinformation agents, and there are a few actors who seek to shed light on this. It’s hard for me to blame the citizens, seeing an avalanche of negative information about the EU and seeing why they are more Eurosceptical. At the same time, we must understand that their personal experience also gives them a bit of resilience, especially to those who worked in Europe before, who have friends or relatives in the diaspora,” said the expert.
He noted that society’s perception of European integration remains affected by disinformation and false narratives promoted both through external sources controlled by the Russian Federation and through the Kremlin’s proxy actors in the Republic of Moldova. “We understand that the pro-Russian forces do not want the referendum to be successful so that we can continue on the European path, and the risks are very diverse: from electoral corruption that we already see through direct payments from the Russian Federation for particular categories of disadvantaged population, first of all, pensioners, to illegal financing, introduction into the Republic of Moldova, through ‘couriers’ of amounts that are to be used in the election campaign, up to clear destabilization actions. We know that there are voices, including at regional level, that say, for example, that this referendum should not be held in Gagauzia because they had a pseudo-referendum there in 2014 and this process should be blocked. We are also talking about the non-recognition of the election results, but also about particular provocations, protests that these pro-Russian forces would like to turn violent in order to show in the end that we live in an undemocratic country and to delegitimize the Republic of Moldova in front of foreign partners,” stated Andrei Curăraru.
To increase social cohesion and a sense of belonging to the European community, the citizens need to know first-hand the benefits and responsibilities of European integration. “Talking about concrete indicators, salaries in the states that integrate into the EU increase 2-3 times. About 30% of farm’ incomes come from the European Union. Last year, a farmer in the EU received €250 per hectare, on average. A sensitive issue for us – the pensions of our ‘guest workers’ could be paid in the Republic of Moldova and this is a large category of citizens who could return home after building a career elsewhere. We are also talking about possibilities to open small businesses, including through non-reimbursable grants, regional projects and the development of small localities, which are now less favored in the Republic of Moldova,” said the expert of WatchDog Community.
The public debate entitled “Advantages and responsibilities of the citizen in strengthening the country’s European future” was the first installment of the project “Benefits of Moldova’s accession to the EU for people, community and country”, which is supported by Soros Foundation Moldova. The content of this debate does not represent the official position of Soros Foundation Moldova.
