Any democratic system, unlike authoritarian regimes, needs a committed civil society. This is the conviction on which the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS), which started work in the Republic of Moldova in 2009, is based. In an interview with IPN News Agency, Prof. Dr. Norbert Lammert, Chair of the Foundation and former President of the German Bundestag, said that the goal is to encourage and motivate engagement in society for society. This does not necessarily mean political commitment in the narrow sense of the word, but rather is reflected in civic engagement in various community activities.

“In this respect, our activity in the Republic of Moldova is not different from our activity in Germany. We seek to reach as many people as possible, and when we have the impression that someone is ready to get involved, we offer them support through education, formation and training. It is, in principle, a combination of information, motivation and commitment. In this regard, we also award KAS scholarships, both to young people from the country and those who are abroad. I would like to emphasize that the decision regarding the degree, place, duration of involvement is never taken by us. It is taken by each young person or, when it comes to institutional cooperation, by the respective partner organization,” said Norbert Lammert.

The professor also said that, based on its own experience of democratic development in Germany, the Foundation in the partner countries seeks to find organizations, especially political parties, with which it could formulate and implement such joint development projects. It was not a process that guaranteed success from the start. It took shape with the establishment of the Party of Action and Solidarity. “In this regard, I can say that we are very satisfied with this cooperation and we have the justified impression that it has contributed to the stabilization of democratic institutions and a living party system here, in the Republic of Moldova,” said the Chair of the Foundation.

Asked about the Foundation’s short and long-term objectives as regards the promotion of the European path of the Republic of Moldova, Norbert Lammert said that the Konrad Adenauer Foundation shares the current government’s objective to follow the European path, as it considers that this is both in the European interest and in the interest of current Moldova. “But I emphasize once again that the taking of this decision and also the timing and sequence of solving the problems that derive from the taking of this decision do not fall within our competence, but is the prerogative of the Government and Parliament of this country, and the results of the referendum of the end of October will certainly be an essential precondition for this,” said Prof. Dr. Norbert Lammert.