​MOLDOVA NEEDS PROGRAMS THAT WOULD CONSOLIDATE THE SOCIETY – AMBASSADOR PIRKKA TAPIOLA

Ambassador Pirkka Tapiola, Head of the European Union Delegation to the Republic of Moldova, is convinced that the country needs program that can consolidate the civil society. The diplomat stated this on Monday at the final session of the National Convention for European Integration project called “The Republic of Moldova’s European vector: problems and perspectives after the November 30 elections”.

In his words, the election results demonstrated a high level of society polarization. This process seems to have been advancing under somebody’s guidance, including may be under foreign pressure. To avoid such situation at the next elections, it is necessary to introduce an instrument of dialog with citizens and realize projects aimed at society consolidation.

Ambassador Tapiola believes that the high level of society polarization has been conditioned not only by a geopolitical factor.

“There exist different kinds of polarization – by the language principle or by ethnic origin. So it is important to introduce programs that could unite the society with the attraction of all population layers. Moldova must have a strategy oriented at national minorities”, stressed the EU diplomat, underlining also the need for achieving concrete results of reforms – first and foremost in the judiciary reform and in struggle against corruption.

Moldovan Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Iulian Groza recognized that the election results shocked many.

“Somebody wanted very much the elections to have a robust geopolitical character. Citizens of Moldova, as well as many politicians, got into that trap of geopolitical elections, though we were doing our best to avoid a geopolitical election, and were putting more emphasis on reforms. We must learn a serious lesson from the November 30 elections not to repeat the mistake in the future”, said the deputy minister.

Iulian Groza voiced satisfaction that despite anything, the Moldova citizens’ European choice has led to a victory of pro-European parties.

Institute of Public Policies (IPP) Director Arcadie Barbarosie stated that if the new authorities fail to establish order in problematic fields, the next parliamentary election will again be geopolitical, and citizens will vote massively against European integration.

“The three political parties, which are now negotiating a pro-European governing coalition, have lost nearly 150 thousand votes on November 30 compared with the 2010 elections. And please leave geopolitics alone. These ballots were lost not solely because of the geopolitical factor, but also because these very parties promised very much in 2010 but fulfilled very little”, said Arcadie Barbarosie.

In his opinion, the current coalition negotiations are showing that the three parties have not made whatever conclusions from their past experience.

“Unfortunately, they are repeating their mistakes of 2010. In such situation, I guess it is vitally important for the parties to think about a possible attraction of the Communist Party to country governance in this or another form. I don't know if our development partners will be happy about this, but I am sure this is absolutely necessary”, stated Arcadie Barbarosie.