Russia is the country that represents the biggest security threat to Moldova, shows an opinion poll that studies public perception on Moldova’s security and defense systems and which is part of a broader project implemented by the Information and Documentation Center on NATO in Moldova, IPN reports.
Other top answers included terrorist organizations, NATO and the United States.
In case of a security problem, respondents said the first to send help to Moldova would be Romania, Russia and the EU. Significantly behind are NATO, the United States, and Ukraine.
Ion Jigău, of the polling company CBS- Research, told a press conference at IPN that 65% of respondents perceive Moldova to be oriented towards the EU, as 9% named Russia and 5% Romania. Half of respondents want Moldova to be oriented towards the EU, 21% towards Russia and 2% towards Romania.
Respondents get their information on security and defense matters from TV, internet, social media, and online media.
The biggest internal threats to Moldova or Moldovans are corruption, siphoning of funds granted for infrastructure or social projects, bank frauds etc. External threats are related to fake news, foreign propaganda, information warfare, misinformation, war in the region. The dangers related to the Nistru conflict are the high level of crime and smuggling in the breakaway region, the illegal stationing of Russian troops, the risk of armed incidents etc.
The greatest levels of confidence in public security entities are enjoyed by firefighters and SMURD, the Army, the Police and the Border Police, and the Intelligence and Security Service.
Respondents named the medieval prince Stephen the Great to be Moldova’s greatest
ever political or historical figure to defend our country the best. Interestingly, ‘no one’ was the second most popular answer. Coming in third is former President Vladimir Voronin. According to the poll, our country enjoyed the highest level of security and defense under the leadership of Stephen the Great, followed by Alexander the Good, Michael the Brave, Vladimir Voronin, and Joseph Stalin.
Elena Mârzac, executive director of CID on NATO, said the poll is unprecedented in its complexity of measuring popular perceptions on security, development orientation, information sources, and trust in government institutions. In her opinion, civil society could act as a facilitator between the population and the Government to promote national interest and convey common narratives.
Iulian Chifu, president of the Bucharest-based Center for Conflict Prevention and Early Warning, said that the poll was based on programmatic documents and political positions of the Moldovan President and the Government, which helped to shape the space and wording of the poll’s questions.
Viorel Ciubotaru, director of the European Institute of Political Studies, co-founder of CID on NATO, believes that for Moldova to return to normal and become a state that meets people’s expectations, it is very important to return to the essence of good governance. That is why consulting citizens, knowing the exact options of people’s views is important for decision-making.
The survey was conducted during July 20-29 on a sample of 1029 adult respondents. The sample is representative for the adult population of the country, except for the inhabitants of the Transnistria region, with an estimated margin of error of ± 3%.
