Meetings with residents of Moldova from eight districts of the country, factual refutation of common myths about EU, video stories about successfully implemented projects with EU financial support, TV debates and, most importantly, communication, these are the main results of the program “EU in Moldova: Perceptions and Reality”, which were presented by three NGOs, including the Institute for Strategic Initiatives within the framework of the final conference.

Funda Tekin, Director of the Berlin Institute for European Politics (IEP): “During the last 12 months, within the framework of our workshops, we communicated with hundreds of Moldovan citizens who wanted to share with us their views on the European Union. We met residents of Basarabeasca, Ceadir-Lunga, Drochia, Edinets, Leova, Ungheni, Orhei and Nisporeni districts. We managed to inform people about the presence of the EU and its countries in Moldova.

“We invite people with different views and opinions to our meetings, who may not communicate so often in real life, it is very important to find common ground,” the executive director of the Institute for Strategic Initiatives (IPIS), Inna Şupac, said.

The programme “EU in Moldova: Perceptions and Reality” was implemented with financial support of the German Federal Foreign Office. The head of the German diplomatic mission in Moldova, Angela Ganninger, noted the importance of the project for the regions of Moldova.

“It is very important to communicate with each other in order to understand each other better, and I think that was the main goal of the project. Very often such discussions are held in Chisinau, but not in smaller districts, where I heard that there is a great interest in such meetings,” the diplomat said.

The director of the Institute of European Policies and Reforms (IPRE), Iulian Groza, believes that, over the past few years, some Moldovans’ opinion about the EU has changed for the better: “more and more Moldovans trust the European Union, they know about the projects that the EU supports in the country and want to connect their future with the EU”.

Over the past ten years, the EU sent over a billion euros to Moldova in the form of free support for various social and infrastructure projects, the head of the EU delegation to Moldova, Peter Michalko, said at the conference: “The EU is the closest, most stable and reliable partner for Moldova and its residents”.

It is noteworthy that the assistance provided by the EU to Moldova is also noticed by the residents of regions that are considered skeptical towards the EU, said Vadim Pistrinciuc, Executive Director of the Institute for Strategic Initiatives (IPIS): “At the level of the authorities everybody understands very well the importance of EU support in the form of projects in the region, they also understand that their rights are better protected in the context of European legislation”.