Moldovan people are against joining NATO because they are not adequately informed

The population’s negative attitude towards NATO derives principally from the fact that Moldova remains stuck in the Russian informational space, Oleg Serebrian, chairman of the Social Liberal Party told a news conference. Serebrian said that the Moldovan population reads the Russian press, watches Russian television channels where NATO is presented as an aggressive organization that creates problems in the Balkans and Caucasus etc. According to him, the Moldovan authorities do not want to create another image for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. “If the public radio and television stations changed their stance on NATO for a year, if NATO was mentioned instead of Voronin (Vladimir Voronin, President of Moldova e.n.) in the news bulletins, if the reports described NATO’s constructive activities in different areas, the population’s position would change radically,” the Social-Liberal leader said. The electronic media influences a lot the population’s preferences. Three-four years ago, the former Speaker Eugenia Ostapciuc was the second or third most popular public figure because she was frequently seen on television and she often spoke on the radio. Now she is practically out of the rankings, Serebrian said. At the same time, Serebrian considers that the NATO Information and Documentation Centre’s attempt to get involved in informative activities can gradually lead to the change of the attitude towards NATO. Political analyst Oazu Nantoi said that the relations between Moldova and NATO are not discussed in the society. For his part, Radu Gorincioi, director of the NATO Information and Documentation Centre, said that the Moldova-NATO Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) contains a chapter about the informing of the public. It stipulates a number of activities that involve the civil society and mass media. The Centre wants to bring up different aspects of the Moldova-NATO relations, their future and the way in which IPAP is being implemented. Certain radio stations were asked to broadcast programs, but not all of them gave a positive answer. Among these were public stations and this shows that such aspects are not welcome for discussion. Radu Gorincioi also said that the Centre intends to draw people’s attention to such issues by launching a talks club that will discuss Moldova’s relations with NATO, the existent problems etc. Politicians and representatives of the civil society will be invited to take part in the meetings. According to a survey carried out by the Marketing and Polling Institute IMAS-INC, 23% of the Moldovans are in favour of joining NATO, while 27% are against. Some 30% of the respondents said they have not decided yet. The same survey shows that 30% of the population trust NATO, while 45% do not.