Ro
En
Рy
The meeting was attended by Róbert Kirnág, the Ambassador of Slovakia in Moldova; Mátyás Szilágyi, the Ambassador of Hungary in Moldova; Andrei Iovu, researcher in interethnic relations; Vladimir Soloviov, editor-in-chief of Kommersant.md; and head of the Bureau for Diaspora Relations, Victor Lutenco.
Speaking of European integration and identity, His Excellency Róbert Kirnág, Ambassador of Slovakia in Moldova, explained that European integration means not only laws and decisions declared officially, but it also involves promotion of political culture, which improves communication between the representatives of various national minorities and increases their engagement in political processes in the country. He also mentioned the importance of the political will of the country’s authorities to solve the problems that minorities are facing at the national level, because Moldova approaching the EU does not imply any automatic settlement of such problems. “There is no single recipe, every country has its specificity, and Moldova could use the positive experience of Slovakia and other EU Member States that managed to overcome dilemmas in the area of national minorities”.
“The more responsibilities the government assumes when signing the Association Agreement with the EU, the better. However, problems will arise when implementing reforms, which will supposedly be quite numerous in Moldova, while some part of the population seems skeptical about their functionality,” said Vladimir Soloviov, editor-in-chief of Kommersant.md.
Head of the Bureau for Diaspora Relations Victor Lutenco and researcher Andrei Iovu found the development of the National Unity Strategy useful and welcome, considering that it will be a first important step in the communication between the majority of the population and national minorities, offering to everyone the possibility to maintain their rights and national identity.
Finally, participants in discussions agreed that the elements of national identity (the ones related to language and history) should be left to researchers, linguists, historians and should not be politicized, as it has been the case since Moldova obtained its independence.
European Café was organized by the IJC as part of the project “Widening the European Dialogue in Moldova” project implemented by the Slovak Atlantic Commission with the assistance of the Central European Policy Institute. The project was financially supported by SlovakAid.
