“In a democracy, it is perfectly normal to ensure pluralism of opinions and this thing should be encouraged by the government,” said Dionis Cenușa, a political scientist, researcher at the Institute of Political Science at Justus Liebig University in Giessen, Germany. In IPN’s public debate titled “About what new EU-Moldova dialogue is, how it develops and what chances it has”, the expert said the criticism leveled at the new government, not only by the opposition, but also by supporters, is normal and should be perceived a contribution to the formulation of the work agenda.
“The criticism is leveled at the current government because things are not communicated as they should be or because the made moves do not correspond to the perception of the public. Civil society realizes very well that the spirit of the Association Agreement resides in the rule of law, good governance and many things that ensure the state develops in the direction of liberal democracy that is wanted by the European Union and is also wanted in the Republic of Moldova. Given such aspirations, there will definitely be voices that do not support the way in which the government recruits people for particular public posts. (Others wonder) how the EU analyzes the situation in the Republic of Moldova given that some of the reforms – the same law on the prosecution service – didn’t follow the logic of decisional transparency... We now can ask: is the EU aware of the developments in Chisinau? If it is, how does it apply the political precondition that is very important for providing the macro-financial assistance?” asked Dionis Cenușa.
He noted that amid such questions, criticism of the sustainability of the European integration in Chisinau can appear even if the government openly and transparently assumed the European integration as a course in which the most will be invested.
Speaking about the Association Agenda, Dionis Cenușa said it is for the first time that the agenda covers not four years, but six years. But the current government that has a four-year mandate cannot know what will be there after 2025. Even if the Association Agreement stipulates strategic aspects, the work agenda is an operational document. We cannot know what the country’s current needs will be in 2027, for example.
As to the content of the new relations with the EU, the expert said the areas agreed by the Moldovan authorities fully coincide with the EU’s priorities. “We refer to the economic recovery during the pandemic by offering assistance to the small and medium-sized enterprises that were affected by the sanitary restrictions the most. The justice sector reform is another reform expected by society, which has been discussed by civil society during many years. This implies complex and long intervention that will involve a lot of money, primarily for assessing the staff... They speak about the application of the Albanese model that is costly and long-lasting. We will see what mechanism the Moldovan side will propose. But money will be first of all searched for in Brussels as the budget of the Republic of Moldova cannot afford such a luxury,” stated Dionis Cenușa.
The expert noted he is more optimistic about cooperation in the energy sector as Romania can offer support in this regard. “Romania is one of the most powerful supporters of the European integration of the Republic of Moldova, the interconnections being an ‘oxygen pillow’ when the pressure started already to be felt. The energy issue is related to security and to the functioning of the economy... As to the other priority cooperation areas, I will only name them: security and hybrid threats, digitization, the environment and “green” economy,” he said.
The public debate “About what new EU-Moldova dialogue is, how it develops and what chances it has” was staged by IPN News Agency in the framework of the project “Developing Political Culture through Public Debates” that is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
