Press Release
on the organization of the public discussion “Moldovan-Romanian relations: evolutions, expectations, quality measurements”, the 53th installment of the “Developing Political Culture through Public Debates” Series
Public debates series held by the news agency IPN in its conference room with the support of the German Foundation “Hanns Seidel”
The invitee of the public discussion was His Eminence, Romania’s Ambassador to the Republic of Moldova Marius Lazurca.
The discussed topic matches the logic of natural things in general and of the IPN project in particular given that this project refers to the development of the political culture of ordinary people and of society as a whole because namely the people and society are the end beneficiaries, not the diplomats, politicians and states, of the bilateral relations between countries, including the Republic of Moldova and Romania, and have thus the right to give a real appraisal of these relations.
That’s why besides the traditional aspects in these cases (evolutions and economic prospects of the bilateral cooperation; evolutions and prospects of the development assistance provided by Romania to the Republic of Moldova; Moldova’s European perspectives, etc.), the invitee was asked to first of all assess the state of affairs in the area of interhuman relations: how much the people from the two countries came closer or distanced themselves; which are the trends and mechanisms that ensure these processes; what the measurements or ‘temperature’ of the bilateral relations show in this regard?
In this connection, Ambassador Lazurca described the Republic of Moldova as a basically European country and community, saying that this quality derives from the sufficiently high level of political culture. Besides, societies from the two banks of the Prut River came into very solid contact and this is an irreversible process.
The diplomat stated that Moldovan society is not more fragmented than other European societies. This has a specific color and profile, but does not include elements of a division pathology. A part of the explanation derives from the political culture of the citizen.
According to the ambassador, society in Moldova is fragmented as any other society. If there were monolithic societies, politics would be impossible because this is based on the reality of a fragmented society, societies consisting of communities of interests. “Looking for an artificial unity in Moldova is an artificial project that leads nowhere,” stated Marius Lazurca.
He noted it is regrettable that the majorities migrate rather massively and there is no solid, incontestable majority based on which a series of parties can work out a country project. “During several years, we had pro-European majorities at the level of society. In several years, owing to the disappointment, we have Euro-skeptical majorities. To my mind, the European feeling prevails in the Republic of Moldova, which is a basically European country and political community,” said the diplomat.
According to Marius Lazurca, the situation in Moldovan society is now tense, but does not exceed the limits of political culture typical of civilized countries. “The recent protest, of April 24, and the large number of street protests are an indicator of the dissatisfaction of an important part of the political community of Moldova. But this discontent was never expressed as a struggle of a part of Moldovan society against another, even if the conditions were probably favorable now, when the tensions are so visible. This shows that the balance, stability, wisdom and calmness are traits of the political community of Moldova,” said the ambassador.
He also said that despite the tensions in society, these never manifested themselves as an interethnic conflict and this is another indicator, subordinated to the first. “The discontent expressed on the street didn’t turn into interethnic tensions. This says a lot, beyond particular stereotypes about interethnic peace. The ethnic minorities in the Republic of Moldova feel well treated and feel part of the community and are inserted in the common destiny. This is a good thing,” stated Marius Lazurca.
The Agency published 5 news stories on the debate (see the English version of www.ipn.md): on 29.04.16, „ Marius Lazurca: Moldova is a basically European country and community” - http://www.ipn.md/en/arhiva/76304; „ Marius Lazurca: Bilateral trade is today three times larger than in 2010” - http://www.ipn.md/en/arhiva/76305; „ Marius Lazurca: Romania’s assistance depends on the order in key areas of Moldova” - http://www.ipn.md/en/arhiva/76317; on 30.04.16, „ No matter who governs Moldova, these will be unable to reinstall barbed wire on the Prut, diplomat” - http://www.ipn.md/en/arhiva/76318; „ Marius Lazurca: What Moldova receives from EU is based on logic of integration” - http://www.ipn.md/en/arhiva/76319.
Valeriu Vasilica, director of IPN