Moldova

At the European Council summit on 21/22 March 2024, Moldova's progress with regard to EU accession negotiations will be reviewed. In four contributions, participants of our NEXT4EU trip take a look at existing challenges for Moldova's EU integration process.

Moldova continues to work on implementing the nine European reform priorities. Their implementation at the local level was the subject of our NEXT4EU Policy Dialogues.

On the eve of the European Council’s decision on Moldova’s EU Accession Negotiations in December 2023, a group of German think tankers, researchers, civil society and media representatives visited the Republic of Moldova.

How can young people support Moldova’s Europeanization process? The trainings targeted young Moldovans across the country to increase their knowledge about the EU integration process of Moldova and how they can get involved in this process on the local level.

What is the implementation level of the reform steps proposed by the European Commission in its opinion on Moldova’s EU membership application? The first NEXT4EU Policy Dialogue discussed reform efforts with Moldovan state representatives and civil society experts.

Which measures can counter disinformation in the Republic of Moldova? This question was the leitmotif of the reforMD project and was discussed by local and international experts at the final event.

The Republic of Moldova is particularly affected by Russian disinformation campaigns. During the reforMD policy debates, experts discussed how the legal framework can be strengthened to enhance resilience in the country.

Fake news and manipulation of public opionon are a serious threat to democracy. The reforMD Local Disinfo Labs aim to strengthen the resilience of Moldovan society against disinformation campaigns.

An active civil society, a strong regulatory framework and international exchange are crucial factors in the fight against disinformation. Moldovan and international experts exchanged views at the inforMD Networking Lab.

Together with local experts, Moldovan students dealt with different forms of disinformation in traditional and social media.

Anti-corruption in Moldova, Covid-19 in Central Asia, Civil Society in Belarus – the fellows of the Eurasia Lab & Fellowship program have presented their research projects and discussed the findings with external experts.

The directors of the think tanks involved in the project met for coaching and feedback regarding the cooperation. Furthermore, possible future ideas within the framework of the Eastern Partnership were discussed.

EU support to Moldova and the relevance of the EU rapprochement process were the topics of the final conference of the WE&EU project. In addition, videos with success stories of EU support to local projects were shown.

Information about the EU Association Agreement was provided and the assessments of local actors on the implementation of the agreement were presented. In addition, disinformation was countered with WE&EU fact-checks and videos on EU success stories.

With civil society participants, disinformation about the EU Association Agreement was discussed and projects financed by EU aid were presented in order to counteract scepticism due to lack of transparency and inadequate labor and social standards.

An open dialogue has taken place on the EU-Moldova Association Agreement and its contents, values, as well as on the impact on the Moldovan economy and specific benefits for society.

Factual knowledge about the EU Association Agreement has been provided in order to counteract existing myths and misinformation. In addition, information was provided about EU-funded projects in the relevant region and specific funding opportunities.

What reform policies is the new Moldovan government pursuing? What is the thematic focus? Are relations with Russia or the EU being strengthened? Experts from Moldova discussed these and other questions on the assessment of the situation in the shadow of the pandemic.