The strength of the Republic of Moldova at the moment is the determination, and this is an indispensable factor to be part of the European community. Many areas still need to be adjusted, but thanks to the unprecedented determination and support of the international community, a major potential has been created. This is the opinion expressed by the Ambassador of Denmark to the Republic of Moldova Søren Jensen. In an interview with IPN News Agency, the ambassador also said that the choice for the Republic of Moldova is not only to be on one side or the other of the barricade, but to get out of the gray area and become part of a group that shares the same values.
– Denmark established its first diplomatic office here in the Republic of Moldova. What significant progress can you highlight in the cooperation between the Republic of Moldova and Denmark?
– Well, first of all, I was very happy to be the first resident ambassador here in Moldova. I covered Moldova also before because I was ambassador to Bucharest and I covered Moldova from there. But of course, the reason the Danish government decided to open an embassy was because of two things, basically. One thing was that Moldova expressed a wish to get closer to Europe, to develop the association agreement you have with Europe into a negotiation of actually accessing, becoming a member of the European Union. Moldova engaged in a number of important reforms to this end. And these are efforts that we want to support from Denmark because we see an interest in expanding the European family, in letting other countries join. I wish to be part of that. The second reason, of course, is the terrible Russian aggression against Ukraine, which also threatens Moldova and puts a lot of these efforts under pressure. And we saw it as also a way to show our solidarity with the people of Moldova, to be here in the country, to be present and to be able to help.
– Regarding Moldova's integration into the European Union, what do you consider to be the country's key strengths that will contribute to its cooperation within the European community?
– Well, I think the key strength right now is the determination. There is a strong determination in the government and I think also among the people to join the European Union, and you need determination if you want to succeed. There are a lot of difficult things that need to be done. Moldova needs to adjust the number of things to get closer to the European Union, to the legislation, to the free market of the European Union. But I think the determination is the most important thing over time. I think Moldova has many things to contribute to Europe. Obviously, you have a very good sector of agriculture, strong wine sector, which I think a lot more Europeans can come to enjoy. But you are also a country with developments of particularly the IT sector, which I think is going to be a strength, is always going to be a strength in Europe. And Moldova here has some opportunities to actually build on this.
– With the presidential election campaign underway, disinformation originating from the Kremlin has intensified. What steps should the Republic of Moldova take to improve the resilience against this wave of misinformation in our country?
– Well, the best way to deal with misinformation is to tell the truth, because misinformation is by definition not true. So, if the government basically tells the people of Moldova the truth, I think they stand very strong. But of course, there are other things you can do. You can try to, to limit the sources of this misinformation. But at the end of the day, I think there are two only things you can really do. First of all, when you know about stories that are wrong, you can try to debunk them, as it's called. You can try to show that they're false. I think Moldova is taking an interesting approach to this by, in a way, trying to come ahead of some of the misinformation by warning media, warning social society organizations. If you see something in the media, if you see something on social media or elsewhere that sounds too crazy to be true, then it isn't true. I mean, this is the healthiest way of dealing with misinformation.
– As you said, media education is increasingly discussed as a very efficient way to enhance our resilience against misinformation. What lessons can the Republic of Moldova learn from Denmark?
– Well, I think from Denmark you can perhaps learn, but of course, the situation is not exactly the same. But I think many things we learned our children to be critical already in schools, critical in the broad sense, also critical to their teachers, critical to their parents, but certainly also critical to what they read and what they see in the media. And this is, I think, is the important thing. If people are critical, if people ask questions, is this really true? Is it true when they are told that the European Union is going to turn everybody into LGBT people? Is this really true? And people can think, probably not, because everybody in Denmark and everybody in Sweden and everybody in France and Germany are not LGBT people. So probably this is not true either.
– What kind of measures can be taken by the government of the Republic of Moldova in this context?
– Well, I think the government is taking already a number of steps. We have seen. They have limited some of the worst media outlets that are spreading misinformation. They have reacted in ways of building up institutions that collaborate across the government, but not only across the government, but also across society. And I think important is to involve civil society and to involve the media in that collaboration. And it's a thin line because you don't want to control the media, but you want to make the media more responsible to what they're actually bringing and how they deal with misinformation.
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– Let’s talk about the war in Ukraine and the regional security. While Denmark and other European countries have significantly increased their military investments, Moldova has made investments as well. However, polls indicate that the citizens of our country have low confidence in the national army. What measures can be taken to strengthen this area and improve public trust in the national army?
– Well, trust in the military forces, of course, has to do with the ability of the military forces. But I think we need to look at a bigger picture here. I think we can understand to a large degree why historically Moldova being placed where it is geographically, with the history it has, with a long history with relations, strong relations with Russia, and part of being part of the Soviet Union, that there is a natural affiliation to relationships with Russia. I can understand why people identify with that. But I also think that the aggression against Ukraine has changed the picture a little bit. It's no longer a question of a balance where both sides are equal. One side has attacked an independent country, a sovereign country, broken all international rules and is every day committing war crimes. The other side is the west. And we are perhaps not perfect, but we're certainly not attacking other countries and we're certainly not posing a threat to Moldova.
Moldova has to some extent often chosen to lay low. If we are quiet, we will not be bothered. I think the Ukraine situation shows that this is not going to help. You cannot just be quiet and hope not to be bothered. I think we all know what would have happened had the Russians had success in the early stages of their aggression and had taken Odessa. It would have been very easy for them to have taken Moldova. We indeed even know that they had plans to take Moldova. So, I think today the choice for Moldova is not just an equal one side, the other side.
Today the choice is different. And if we look at what other countries have done, longstanding neutral countries like Sweden, like Finland, have made a choice. They've decided not to be a gray zone waiting for perhaps an aggression from Russia. In this case, no.
They have taken a choice to join an alliance to improve their safety. This is not where we are today with Moldova. Moldova is not standing in front of a choice between joining an alliance, but they are standing in front of a choice between joining a collaboration of likeminded, value-based countries like the European Union. And that’s an important step.
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– I would like also to address crucial global issues: energy efficiency and green transition. We know Denmark is a leader in these areas. How can Republic of Moldova make these a priority and follow a similar path, because now it's not.
– Well, I think there are two things you need to do. Firstly, the population needs to want it. And I think if the population doesn't quite understand always that there is a threat. And this is not only in Moldova, this is in many countries.
Just take a look outside. This summer has seen extreme drought. The farmers of Moldova have problems because of extreme drought. And then later we had flooding. And all this has to do with global climate change. The changes in climate will produce more and more violent and weird, as we say, weather phenomena. And this will affect people everywhere. So, I think if people need to understand that this is going to affect them, if they don't act, that's the first thing. In Denmark, we for many years had a movement which came from the people. It wasn't the politicians who set the pace in the green transition.
It was a lot of pressure from, especially the youth. I mean, after all, it's the young people who are going to live in this world much longer than my generation who need to live with the effects of all this. So, they are pressuring to have change. And I think in Moldova this needs to happen as well.
And of course, the government then needs to take the necessary steps. Steps are being taken, though. We are looking in Moldova at energy efficiency, more energy efficiency. Just this week, last week, actually, I was in Bolduresti to open a solar park, which is financed by a Danish investor.
I mean, solar parks are a great way to make cheap, affordable energy to thousands of Moldovan homes, which does not use any fossil fuels. The good thing about Moldova is that you don't use coal, so you don't have to move away from coal as many of the other countries do. You have a good starting point, but still more can be done. You have a lot of potential for wind, we have a lot of potential for solar energy, and especially if you can collaborate regionally with Romania, with Ukraine. This is a region that can really benefit from the green transition.
– So it’s about the investments, but first of all, it's about the education of people in this.
– It's about the education. But really, I mean, you don't need a lot of education to look out the window and see that it's dry. And then you have to ask, why is it dry? Is it because of the government? No, probably not. The government didn't make the drought. It's because of global changes. And to affect the global changes, we need to collaborate.
But if we can negotiate together as a group, as the European Union, with maybe 30, 40 countries one day, we can have a lot more impact. We can help make changes in the global emissions in the United States, in China, in India, in other countries and in our own countries. We cannot do this on our own. We need to work together. And this is another advantage of being part of the European Union that we actually have influence. Small countries like Denmark, like Moldova, has influence because we sit at the table where the decisions are made. Other countries are not at that table and they don't have that kind of influence.
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– Recently, the fifth edition of the Moldova Partnership Platform took place in Chisinau, where nine support agreements were signed. What do you think about this leap in diplomatic cooperation of the Republic of Moldova?
– Well, I think it's a very strong indication of what I said also earlier, why Denmark is here. We see a possibility of change. We see a willingness to actually change, to move Moldova forward, not only on the path of democracy, which you're already on, but also moving ahead, making a better life for your citizens. I think Moldova has learned a lot from 30 years of independence, moving back and forth between different kinds of governments.
And there are some possibilities now to move forward. And I think what is really heartening is that the international society is willing to assist. And I see a fantastic unity of purpose between UN organizations, between countries, for example, who are not members of the European Union, like the United States, Japan, Canada, Australia, all these countries were there. Norway, Switzerland, they were all there at the conference, along with all your European partners committing their assistance to Moldova.
We want to see Moldova succeed. We want to see Moldova become a successful country, a country that is good for its citizens and that can become a member of our family.
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– By the way, 37 Danish owned companies operate here in the Republic of Moldova. At the same time, we have a community of Moldovan citizens in Denmark, which primarily consists of students. So, I wanted to ask you what measures could be taken to further enhance and strengthen bilateral cooperation between Republic of Moldova and Denmark in the future?
– Well, I think the important thing is investments. Moldova needs more international foreign investments. And to have more international foreign investments, you need have a predictable legal environment. This is the most important thing for any investment.
Of course, it has to also be worth investing in Moldova. But I think there are a lot of things that show it is worth investing in Moldova. But the most important is to have a legal system that is fair and free. And of course, this is one of the big challenges at present for the Moldovan government, is to create a legal system that is free of corruption, that is free of influence, peddling from others, and where businesses can be sure that they are being treated equally with local businesses and according to the rule of law.
So I think this is a very important thing when it then comes to all the other contacts. I think the human contacts are extremely important. I was very happy to be part of a Romanian language day celebration in Copenhagen, in Denmark, where I met a lot of Romanians and Moldovans. Some of them are not so distinguishable because they have passports from Romania. But there were many people and not only students. There are lots of Moldovans working in health sector, in the IT sector, in a number of other sectors, agriculture, etcetera, in Denmark. And then they contribute valuable to Denmark. We hope also that of course, one day the things the students learn, things that these people pick up in Denmark, can become useful for Moldova.
Maybe they would like to return one day when the country's situation is better, the legal system is working better, the economy is working better, and maybe the country is approaching membership to the European Union. I think a lot of people will come back. We've seen this in Poland, we've seen it in the Baltic states, we're beginning to see it in Romania. Also, that people who left the country out of frustration, maybe dissatisfaction with the situation there are beginning to return.
Because after all, this is their home, this is their motherland or fatherland. So, I think that's the future. And then finally I would say that one of the things I'm really hoping for as an immediate thing is that we will see more tourism. Right now, there are not a lot of Danish tourists coming to Moldova, but I see a lot of potential.
I know the Danes love wine; they really love good wine. And I see a lot of potential for Danish groups coming here, enjoying the wine. But while they're enjoying the wine, not too much, of course, while they're enjoying the wine, they will also enjoy the country, they will see the possibilities. And when they come home, they will go into their local supermarkets and say that wonderful Moldovan wine! Why don't you have this on your shelves? That will start to happen. They will start to buy the Moldovan wine and slowly trade will increase. Not only the wine, maybe also the food, more of your wonderful fruits.
And you will also import more of maybe our products, which are already on some of your shelves.
– Mister Ambassador, thank you very much for this interview.
– It’s my pleasure.
