Vivid Discussions on Moldovan Identity and Minority Issues at MIDEU Opening Conference

06.06.2017

On 29 May 2017, the MIDEU Opening Conference on “National Identity and Inclusive Society in Moldova: Current Issues and Shared Visions” took place in Chisinau. Around 40 participants took the opportunity to discuss their views on national identity and minority integration in the Republic of Moldova.

Opening remarks were delivered by Florian Seitz (Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in the Republic of Moldova) and Ion Stavila (Ambassador at Large, Moldovan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration).

The speakers at the first panel, H.E. Pirkka Tapiola (Head of the European Union Delegation in the Republic of Moldova), Vera Petuhov (Deputy Director of the Bureau for Interethnic Relations), and Pascal Bonnard (Expert of St. Etienne University, France) discussed the topic of enhancing an inclusive state and society in Moldova as well as the potential role of the European Union in this process.

During the second panel, representatives of Civil Society Organizations and ethnic minority groups shared their views on an inclusive society in the Republic of Moldova, the potential elements of a Moldovan identity as well as the role of the nongovernmental and minorities’ organizations in this regard.

During the third panel of the conference H.E. Daniel Ioniţă, Ambassador of Romania to the Republic of Moldova, H.E. Artur Michalski, Ambassador of Poland and H.E. Matyas Szilagyi, Ambassador of Hungary, shared their countries’ experience regarding national identity and integration of national minorities.

The conclusions and recommendations of the Conference were made during the last panel with Michael Scanlan, Head of the OSCE Mission in Moldova and Vladimir Ţurcan, Chair of the Standing Committee on Human Rights and Interethnic Relations of the RM Parliament.

The conference was organized within the framework of the Project “Strengthening the National Identity in Moldova within the EU association process“, implemented by the Institut für Europäische Politik (IEP) and its Moldovan partners the Institute for Strategic Initiatives (IPIS) and the Institute for European Policies and Reforms (IPRE), and kindly supported by the German Federal Foreign Office.