Dionis Cenușa, a political scientist, researcher at the Institute of Political Sciences at Liebig-Justus University in Giessen, Germany, said that when the EU aims to mediate and find political solutions, it does this successfully. For now Moldova can be considered an exception from this diplomatic efficiency shown by the EU in Georgia, for example. The EU’s perception of Moldova is geo-politicized as the presidential administration, the government in general is associated with pro-Russian forces and the EU is waiting for pro-European forces will come to power, but this is not right, the expert stated in a public debate entitled “Germany’s Presidency of Council of EU: impact on Europe, impact on Moldova”, which was hosted by IPN News Agency.
According to Dionis Cenușa, the EU’s attitude is a strategic calculation mistake as things should be looked at in perspective. Moldova is at a very serious turning point and can “sink” if it does not take correct decisions with the assistance of the foreign partners. “Moldovan society plays an important role. It should correctly inform itself and detach itself from political clichés. The mass media and civil society also play an important role and should focus on the country’s general strategic objective, which is the European integration, not on the support for a political camp,” he stated.
Dionis Cenușa formulated a recommendation for the EU and, indirectly, for Germany – to review the way in which particular conditionally elements are applied in the Eastern Partnership. “When the oligarchic factor represents a problem for the democratic institutions in the Republic of Moldova, the same oligarchic factor is noxious for the democratic processes in Georgia or Ukraine. When we speak about the conditionality that the EU responsibly requests for Moldova, the same criteria should be applied in the case of Georgia and Ukraine. The EU sometimes uses extremely efficient instruments in some of the cases and forgets about them in other cases,” said the researcher.
In another development, IPN’s senior contributor wondered why Moldova does not have sufficient intelligence to realize that the European course is the path that can help solve a multitude of problems. Owing to the fact that the Moldovan citizens can obtain the EU nationality by Romanian and Bulgarian passports, the motivation to enter the EU is lost. “But COVID-19 and the pandemic showed how fragile the possibility of being called European citizen is when the borders are closed. When movement inside the EU is restricted, you cannot benefit from the same advantages. The health crisis made us realize that if we do not create conditions at home, the EU can disappear as an alternative”, said Dionis Cenușa, noting transformations should take place in Moldova as swiftly as possible as the health crisis can repeat and can be much more serious.
The debate “Germany’s Presidency of Council of EU: impact on Europe, impact on Moldova” was the 142nd installment of the series of debates “Developing political culture through public debates” that is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
