The Government bears the greatest blame for the fact that a part of the population has an incorrect opinion about the European Union and the Association Agreement with the EU, consider representatives of civil society, who are members of the Pro-Europe Platform. Such statements were made in the program “Place for dialogue” on the public station Radio Moldova, IPN reports.
Executive director of the Independent Press Association Petru Macovei considers that the government didn’t inform the population about the benefits of the Association Agreement and the European integration. “The current government had a communication problem. They should have explained to the people what the Association Agreement is so that the people do not think that they will be discriminated on linguistic grounds when the accord is implemented, as they think now in Gagauzia and some of the northern settlements. The people now also believe that their churches will be destroyed; they will be forced to joint other religions and will be banned from making wine and slaughtering animals in domestic conditions,” he said.
Petru Macovei also said that the representatives of the Pro-Europe Platform are making effort to remove the communication-related deficiency. “We speak plainly and explain to the people that the association with the European Union will bring benefits and they should make a correct choice in the parliamentary elections. I think the correct information of the people about the Association Agreement with the EU must become a national priority. The ruling parties presented the relevant information in an insufficient amount, so as to gain political benefits only,” he stated.
Victor Chirila, executive director of the Foreign Policy Association, also considers that the Government didn’t efficiently inform the people about the benefits of the association with the EU, especially given that Moldova has to cope with many challenges in the European integration process. “The other countries that are now EU members benefited from more assistance from the EU and didn’t face pressure on the part of Russia. Russia behaves now aggressively and does everything possible to hamper Moldova’s integration into the EU. We must find new forms of communication. Regretfully, the local authorities are also not involved in this dialogue,” he said.
Founded this July, the Pro-Europe Civic Platform brings together over 50 nongovernmental organizations that aim to inform the population about the Association Agreement and the integration into the EU.
