Representatives of public authorities, civic activists and members of the academic community of Moldova can attend intensive law and economy courses in Riga, Latvia. The project was launched in 2014 with the aim of enriching knowledge of representatives of the mentioned areas from the Eastern Partnership, Central Asian and Balkan countries, IPN reports.
On September 14, the Embassy of Latvia in Chisinau staged a meeting with former and current participants in the courses. So far, 13 Moldovans attended the courses within this project, while another five were recently chosen to take part in the three-month training session of this autumn.
Latvia’s Ambassador in Chisinau Atis Lots told the young people that while holding diplomatic office, he took part in three such courses, two in Germany and one in the Netherlands. Within them, he managed to accumulate knowledge needed in the subsequent activities. The participation in this project is also an opportunity to know a new country and its people, to establish new professional ties that can lead to cooperation relations in the future. “This program is an investment made by Latvia in Moldova’s development because the participants become messengers of changes,” stated the diplomat.
Jurist of the Ministry of Transport and Road Infrastructure Cristina Stati, who is one of the five persons chosen to take part in the training courses between September 26 and December 15, said these courses will help her strengthen her professional and personal skills, especially because she will interact with specialists from a number of countries from whom she can learn good practices from their area of activity. Furthermore, participation in this project can bring her real benefits because it is planned so as to help the public sector employees to better cope with their duties.
Denis Cenusa, currently civic activist and political analyst, is one of the two Moldovans who graduated from the first class of this project. He said that participation in the project enabled him to see a multitude of European institutions and to establish contacts with the Latvia academic community with which he continues to cooperate. “I could then also review particular aspects of the European integration,” stated Denis Cenusa. He noted that journalists and more representatives of civil society should be engaged in this project so that the representatives of the public authorities could learn to interact with civic activists and the press.
The training courses are held two times a year – in autumn and in spring. Information about the application process is transmitted by the Embassy of Latvia in Chisinau to all the universities and ministries and to a number of civil society organizations. Those interested can find information on the Embassy’s Facebook page and on the website of the Riga Graduate School of Law www.rgsl.edu.lv. Information about the spring courses that start in April will become available in December. All the costs associated with the courses, accommodation and travel to Latvia and to other countries within working visits are covered by the project.
