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20 parties have registered in the current election campaign. Many people say it is a too big number for such a small country as Moldova. At the same time, much more parties could take part in the election campaign.

Activists launch Moldova’s first ‘Space Camp’ © Susan Coughtrie

The Euro-skepticism of Moldovans Grows Fed by the EU Crisis

Headlines

• "Moldova Azi" information portal is changing its format and editorial content, Centrul pentru Jurnalism Independent, 8 August 2011, 15:19
• Moldovan students queue up to apply for scholarships in Romania, Info-Prim Neo, 4 August 2011, 13:44
• Ukrainian scholarships not very popular in Moldova, Info-Prim Neo, 2 August 2011, 14:58
• Kent Larson: USAID will always support process of Moldova democratization, INFOTAG, 1 August 2011, 13:42
• Parliament sets up new commission - for checking civil servants' property and incomes, INFOTAG, 29 July 2011, 9:00
• Scandal in Moldovan parliament over deputies' relatives, INFOTAG, 29 July 2011, 9:00

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Communists insist that the government has compromised the European vector of the Republic of Moldova. The argument of the present opposition is based on the speculation that 17.7% of respondents would hypothetically oppose accession to the European "club", the figure that has never exceeded 10% within the period of communist governing. Still, there are no credible proofs that would demonstrate that liberal democrats have compromised European integration. On the contrary, Chisinau is highly appreciated by European partners. Together with establishment of the present government, they created The Friends of Moldova informal group of European states that were sincerely interested in the progress of the country on the European itinerary headed by Romania. Chisinau has received a substantial credit of confidence from Brussels that has facilitated organization of the international donor forum for the Republic of Moldova and has advised on the development strategy initiated by the new "pro-European" government.

The European discourse of Moldovan officials dominates the public agenda, while the interest showed in the EU becomes more and more substantial. We have a mechanism in place for building the institutional capacity of Moldova administered by European officials to take compliance of the national agents to European institutional rigors and specifics further. We benefit from consultancy of the Mission of European experts in public affairs, which helps us effectively implement a number of reforms to facilitate alignment to the European legislation and policies. We have advanced in negotiations on liberalization of the visa regime with introduction of a European-type system of issuing biometric passports starting from 2011. We have dynamically passed several rounds of negotiations on signing an Association Agreement. And we are getting ready for a complex journey towards a Free Trade Agreement with the EU. Finally, we optimistically conclude that the political will of both parties is in favor of a continuous and productive European vector.

The above rationale reveals groundless criticism of Moldovan communists. Still, realizing that the negative tendencies are not a product of communists' imagination, we have to identify the source of the problem. The image of the EU particularly suffers from the most serious economic and financial crisis in the post-bellum period. Active media coverage of the Greek turmoil, as well as alarming situations of Romania and Bulgaria that are considered eternally in arrear before the EU for several accounts, tendentious and superficial information about the events in European countries both by local and foreign (especially Russian) press have additionally aggravated the depressive state dominating in the Moldovan society. Thus, violent protests in Athens or thousands of Romanian protesters have become the central symbols of an anti-European phobia that "are cooked" in the local public space. Ignoring them by the authorities and to the same extent by European officials accredited in Chisinau may lead to a series of difficulties in implementation of European reforms because of lack of public reaction and receptiveness among citizens. As a result, adversity originating from discordance between the population's exaggerated expectations of European integration, complex European reality always confusing for ordinary tax payers, and deficient and vicious information flow.

Further aggravation of the situation could have most unforeseeable effects, from discouragement and delay in corresponding implementation of reforms to external reorientation of the country on the decision of Euro-skeptic political forces propelled by rather Euro-skeptic than optimistic population.