Over 4,000 Moldovans were informed about the benefits of the European integration, while about 1,000 people signed the petition on joining the European Union. These are the results of the first two weeks of the pro-European information campaign “European integration and concrete and individual benefits for each citizen” that was launched on August 16 by a number of civil society organizations. The data were presented in a news conference at IPN.
Sergiu Ostaf, director of the Resource Center for Human Rights (CReDO), said that nine information points were set up in a number of communities to inform the people about the European integration. Three of these are situated in Chisinau and by one in Cahul, Cantemir, Leova, Hancesti, Anenii Noi and Balti. Three mobile teams visited dozens of villages in these districts.
Arcadie Baciu, local councilor of Chetrosu, Anenii Noi, said the people lack relevant information. The Russian speakers, in particular, tend to believe that the EU is falling apart and the European integration would do more harm than good to Moldova. “We promote the European idea. We want to build the European values and to bring them to our country. We do not want to leave. We want to stay here and to have a European state and the same values. The people continue to be skeptical,” he stated.
The preliminary data of the campaign show that 76% of the persons who filled out questionnaires consider the EU contributes to the improvement of the situation in the country. 83% of those surveyed would take part in the presidential elections. Among the biggest problems mentioned by the respondents are corruption, poverty, unemployment and political instability.
During the next two weeks, the initiators of the campaign aim to reach all the categories of people, to unite them around the European integration idea and to reduce the Euro-skepticism that appeared, according to them, owing to the imprudent actions of the authorities. The volunteers will continue to inform the people from the enumerated districts and will also extend the campaign to Orhei and Ialoveni districts. There will be staged public events to make the potential candidates in the presidential elections more responsible, including a test with ten questions about how they would act in different situations.
The initiative is supported by CReDO, the National Council of Student Organizations of Moldova, the Association “Honor, Dignity and Homeland”, the Association of Ukrainians of Moldova, the National Roma Center, the European Center for Civil Initiatives “Stalker”, the Association “A step together” etc. During the two weeks, representatives of the local public authorities where the tents were put up joined in the campaign.
