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The EU Ambassador in Moldova Pirkka Tapiola, the Ambassador of Slovakia in Moldova Róbert Kirnág, journalist Valentina Ursu, blogger Vlada Ciobanu and expert in public policies and economist Sorin Hadarca, together with participants in the event, discussed about the unity of a European nation in the context of the society being divided in opinions about the country’s integration with the European Union or with the Customs Union.
Speaking about the idea of European integration and about the topic of identity, His Excellency Pirkka Tapiola, Ambassador of the EU in Moldova, mentioned that to a certain extent Moldova itself can be viewed as a miniature European Union, and to build its future, it needs to overcome its identity problems and find possibilities for economic development and social welfare. The building of a European nation depends, first of all, on building a political nation and a common idea.
His Excellency Róbert Kirnág, Ambassador of Slovakia in Moldova, shared with participants in the event the Slovak experience of accession to and integration with the EU. “Only when we were united as citizens of Slovakia did we manage that. We lost a lot of energy in national and identity fights. To reach national unity, we had to find internal and external consensus, have a national interest and a common strategy and be united,” said Ambassador Róbert Kirnág.
Blogger Vlada Ciobanu believes that in the context of globalization, identity fights and nationalism are already obsolete, and the notion of community is welcome. “In conditions when Moldovan parties live from elections to elections and media and the Church are the most trusted by citizens, we need to find an institution that would help us create a strong concept of a single civic nation,” Vlada Ciobanu explained.
“The citizens of Moldova show some kind of emotional loyalty towards the symbols of the EU and the Customs Union. Thus, it is difficult to build a concept of national identity. Making abstraction from emotions and symbols and identifying rational economic and social benefits of integration with the EU, we should search for an idea that would unite us,” said expert in public policies and economist Sorin Hadarca.
Between May and July, the IJC will organize a series of meetings of the Press Club/European Café on European topics.
The Press Club/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.
