The regional economic and politic contexts will count for Moldova’s European future at least as much as the other actions of the parties in the election campaign. The outcome of the Ukraine elections, which are forecast to be won by the pro-Western forces, the economic problems faced by Russia and the consequences of the signing of the Association Agreement with the EU could determine even the pro-Eastern parties of Moldova to maintain the country’s European course, the project’s permanent expert Igor Botan, director of the Association for Participatory Democracy (ADEPT), said in the debate “Why does the electoral behavior of the Coalition count for the country’s European future?” that was staged by IPN News Agency.
“Elections are held in Ukraine. If the pro-European parities win the elections there, as anticipated following the speech given by Mister Poroshenko the previous days, Ukraine will ensure what earlier Mister Voronin called ‘they make the context for us’. If the Ukrainians go to the West and have relevant policies, it does not count much who will come to power in Moldova. Even if some promote the Customs Union now, these will have to accept the fact that the Association Agreement was signed and this is a big accomplishment,” stated the analyst.
Igor Botan underlined that the mass media should provide more extensive information about the advantages of coming closer to the EU and should put more concrete questions to those who support the pro-Eastern polices instead of blaming them. “What about the trade with the EU, which represents 53%? Even if they say that these goods are mainly re-exported, they are re-exported after value added was given in the only companies in Moldova that bring modern workforce. This thing should not be ignored,” said the director of ADEPT.
“We go further. We see that Russia is being isolated and this isolation has an impact on the economy and they will now have to unfreeze the development fund and allocate half of this fund for lending to companies. The question for those from Moldova is: where will the private economic entities of Russia take money from to invest in Moldova’s economy?”
The analyst approved of the performance of the Moldovan diplomatic service in the new regional context. “At foreign level, Moldova’s administration had a cam, civilized and competent behavior,” said Igor Botan.
The debate “Why does the electoral behavior of the Coalition count for the country’s European future?” is the 33rd of the series of public debates “Development of political culture in public debates”. IPN Agency has conducted these debates the third year with the support of the Hanns Seidel Foundation and in cooperation with Radio Moldova.
