PASOS calls for EU to work towards Moldova roadmap on national reconciliation and European integration
News Source: PASOS Secretariat, Prague, Czech Republic
The call, issued through letters to Javier Solana and the Czech presidency of the EU Council in response to the deteriorating political situation in Moldova, follows ultimata delivered to civil society groups in Moldova by tax authorities, demanding financial reports of all sources of revenue (the recipients of summons included Amnesty International Moldova as well as IDIS “Viitorul”, Institute for Public Policy, and ADEPT, three PASOS members who took part in Coalition 2009, the coalition of non-governmental organisations that monitored the elections of 5 April 2009).
See attached letter to Javier Solana, and accompanying statement by PASOS
PASOS (Policy Association for an Open Society) is calling upon the EU to act swiftly to ensure that the Eastern Partnership initiative, to be launched in Prague during the Czech presidency of the EU Council on 7 May 2009, marks a new era of neighbourhood relations towards strengthening democracy, human rights and the rule of law, rather than “business as usual” in government relations at the expense of the rights of ordinary citizens.
People-to-people contact and support to independent civil society should be given unconditional priority, argues PASOS, alongside a renewal of the conditional approach towards deepening co-operation with governments, relations with whom will be deepened on the basis of measurable progress in terms of democracy, the rule of law and human rights. PASOS is a network of 39 independent policy centres in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia working to promote democracy, human rights, and an open society,
PASOS is urging the European Commission, the Council of the EU, the European Parliament and EU member-states to work with Moldova’s political parties (government and opposition) and Moldovan civil society on a “Roadmap for national reconciliation and European integration”. The roadmap should include a concrete set of steps for the democratisation of political space in Moldova, elements of power-sharing, and guarantees of media freedom.
PASOS argues that the EU should embrace a multi-stakeholder approach, with a long-term remit, and provide support for the funding of the implementation of agreed reforms, including watchdog functions (both public and non-governmental). All progress in this direction should be monitored and assisted by the EU, which should insert concrete incentives into the roadmap to match concrete progress made by the Moldovan government in line with agreed benchmarks.
These benchmarks are necessary to reverse the deterioration in civic freedoms that has marked the post-election period in Moldova this year. Since 24 April 2009, the day of the visit of Javier Solana to Chisinau, the Fiscal Tax Inspectorate of Moldova has sent letters of summons to at least ten non-governmental organisations in Moldova, demanding the presentation of their sources of funding, and a financial report for 2009 in a form that is usually required of political parties, accompanied by a warning that their bank accounts might be frozen by the authorities. The organisations targeted include Transparency International Moldova, Amnesty International Moldova, and three independent policy centres, Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) “Viitorul”, Association for Participatory Democracy – ADEPT, and Institute for Public Policy, all of which are members of PASOS.
Furthermore, Moldovan non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and media that monitored the elections of 2009 have come under intense pressure from the Ministry of Justice to “present their official appraisal of the post-election protest actions of 6-7 April 2009”, and to submit “a report of actions taken by them to stop the riots”. Independent media have also been instructed to reveal their sources in reporting on the events.
To remedy the deterioration of civil liberties in Moldova, PASOS calls upon the EU not only to mediate between government and opposition, but also to pay increased attention to:
• human rights abuses and torture,
• the protection of civil liberties and independent media,
• and the rule of law, in particular policing and judicial processes, in Moldova.
(The reasons underlying the Moldovan crisis are complex, and without stronger EU attention to democracy-related aspects of the crisis, EU efforts to find a negotiated solution out of the crisis will not lead to sustainable solutions.)
In connection with the Roadmap, in the medium term the EU should:
• send a Rule of Law mission to Moldova that would work together with the Moldovan authorities to reform the law-enforcement agencies in ways that would bring Moldova in line with EU standards, and foster closer co-operation with the EU.
Furthermore, immediate action needs to be taken to:
• ensure that the EU as an institution participates directly in the commission designed to investigate the post-election violence in Moldova.
Moreover, at the Eastern Partnership summit, to be held in Prague on 7 May 2009, the representatives of the Council of the EU and the European Commission should make a commitment to increase support to civil society and independent media in Moldova and other countries in the EU’s eastern neighbourhood, alongside a renewed declaration, as set out in the Commission’s communication on 3 December 2008, that “a sufficient level of progress in terms of democracy, the rule of law and human rights, and in particular evidence that the electoral legislative framework and practice are in compliance with international standards, and full cooperation with the Council of Europe, OSCE/ODIHR and UN human rights bodies will be a precondition for starting negotiations and for deepening relations thereafter”.*
Eastern Partnership: Towards Civil Society Forum, an important meeting of NGOs from the Eastern Partnership countries and from EU member-states (organised by the Association for International Affairs (AMO), a member of PASOS in the Czech Republic). The conference is an official side-event of the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU, held under the auspices of the Czech Prime Minister.
* 3.1. New contractual relations, page 5: COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL, Eastern Partnership, Brussels, 3.12.2008, COM(2008) 823 final, {SEC(2008) 2974})
The statement, accompanying the letter to Javier Solana, was signed by the following:
Jeff Lovitt, Executive Director, PASOS (Policy Association for an Open Society)
Nicu Popescu, member, Board of Directors, PASOS (Policy Association for an Open Society)
Institute for Contemporary Studies, Albania
Institute for Democracy and Mediation, Albania
Arman Vardanyan, Executive Director, Social Policy and Development Center, Armenia
Tevan Poghosyan, Executive Director, International Center for Human Development (ICHD), Armenia
European Institute, Bulgaria
Dr Ognyan Minchev, Executive Director, Institute for Regional and International Studies (IRIS), Bulgaria
Michal Thim, Research Center Director, Association for International Affairs (AMO), Czech Republic
EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy, Czech Republic
George Tarkhan-Mouravi, co-Director, Institute for Policy Studies (IPS), Georgia
Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development (CIPDD), Georgia
Center for Policy Studies at the Central European University (CPS-CEU), Hungary
Gábor Péteri, Executive Director, Local Government Initiative Development Limited (LGID), Hungary
Kosovar Civil Society Foundation, Kosovo
Centre for Public Policy PROVIDUS, Latvia
Zhidas Daskalovski, President, Center for Research and Policy Making (CRPM), Macedonia
Dr Igor Munteanu, Executive Director, Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) ‘Viitorul’, Moldova
Arcadie Barbarosie, Executive Director, Institute for Public Policy (IPP), Moldova
Valeriu Prohnitski, Executive Director, Expert-Grup, Moldova
Igor Botan, Executive Director, Association for Participatory Democracy – ADEPT, Moldova
Jacek Kucharczyk, Research Director, Institute of Public Affairs, Poland
Institute for Public Policy (IPP), Romania
Aaron Presnall, Director of Studies, Jefferson Institute, Serbia
Grigorij Mesežnikov, President, Institute for Public Affairs (IVO), Slovakia
Research Centre of the Slovak Foreign Policy Association (RC SFPA), Slovakia
Olga Shumylo, Executive Director, International Centre for Policy Studies (ICPS), Ukraine
PASOS_EUHR29april2009.pdf (329.70 kB)
statement_Moldova29april_pasos.pdf (126.90 kB)
