How Much Moldovans Love Their Country

Moldova’s Independence Day – 27th of August – serves an occasion for Moldovans to assess their level of patriotism and define their attitude towards their country of citizenship. A couple of local TV stations conducted random interviews with Moldovans, and the general conclusion was that too many people had a wrong idea or no idea at all about this important holiday. After sixteen years of independence that is self-determination, self-governance, sovereignty, irresponsible mistakes and lesson learned, political turnarounds, used and missed opportunities, all types of mostly uncompleted reforms, ambiguous international participation, a great deal of people don’t really care about being citizens of Moldova.

Politicians, journalists, historians, analysts – the so-called local intellectual elite – all offered various explanations to this puzzling attitude. Some think Moldovans haven’t completed their national identity quest, others factor in the massive disappointment of Moldovans with their state and political elite, struggling for survival in poverty and injustice, yet others think Moldova as a country – too small, too vulnerable, and isolated – can inspire nothing but skepticism and disrespect.

These and many other arguments are probably true. However, one fact is truer than others: Generally, Moldovans are not patriots. Few Moldovan have a genuine sense of public good, communal solidarity and a shared vision on the future of their country. Moldovans’ love for their country is limited to their families and closest friends, the house(s) and trees and vegetables in their gardens. When a Moldovan enters the public domain and starts making decisions that affect people outside close circles, this is when this shortage of patriotism is accutely felt.

Action by and for Youth with Disabilities

An unusual event was launched today in Chisinau: Amprente Art Exhibition , which provides young people with disabilities the opportunity to display and sell their works of art and handicraft. This event is part of a broader Disability with Ability Campaign supported with American and Norvegian funds.

Everyone who is interested in enjoying the creativity of Moldovan youth, and seeing the world from a different artistic perspective, you are welcome to visit this exhibition at the National Archeology and History Museum of Moldova on 20-26 August everyday except Friday from 10 am to 6 pm.

Greece: A Model Tourist Destination

Greece was the destination of my vacation this summer. Still overwhelmed with the poetic beauty of the Cycladic Islands, I'd like to share my favorite pictures that will talk for themselves.

Santorini island


Colorful boats


Oia at dusk


World-famous sunsets


Donkeys still around


For more pictures, please see this slideshow

How Do Non-Profits Contribute to Moldova’s European Integration?

Although the biggest role in the implementation of EU-Moldova Action Plan is reserved for the Government, Parliament and Judiciary of Moldova, there is still a lot that non-profit organizations could do to help bring Moldovan society closer to European values, practices and standards. What could and should be done is up to the non-profits to figure out. For now, I will talk about an innovative initiative in this area – the Pro-Europa Centers in Balti and Cahul towns.


The Pro-Europa Center in Balti is run by Regional Center Contact, and the one in Cahul is run by Association Dialogue. The Pro-Europa Centers provide plentiful of EU-related information and training services to various social groups in their regions. Through activities such as workshops, study visits, public presentations and debates, guest speakers and public campaigns, Pro-Europa Centers encourage the non-profit sector, academic and professional communities, and the private sector to get informed and educated about EU affairs, thus enabling them to apply critical judgment regarding the governmental policies and reforms in this area. It is noteworthy that due to the efforts of Pro-Europa Centers, 2007 was the first year when Europe Day was ever celebrated in Moldova.


The Pro-Europa Centers will continue their activities in the following year. Currently, these Centers are being funded entirely by international donors. I hope this support will continue, and Moldovan Government will decide to contribute as well, given that European integration is officially a top priority on its agenda.

The Moldovan Non-Profit Sector in Perspective

Am traveling to Belgrade, Serbia this week on a project that aims to develop a tool for assessing institutional and organizational capacities of non-profit organizations - or the non-governmental organizations - in the Western Balkans region. After first testing this tool among Serbian non-profits, the Serbian counterpart, ProConcept selected Moldova to test, and adjust this tool called INGOC . My first impression is that the Serbian non-profit sector is quite developed, having a strong influence on policy making and being an important counterpart in social service provision, despite significant distrust and negative image among the government institutions and people - an unfortunate consequence of the recent political history.

Belgrade is a nice and very green city. The landscape highlight is the meeting of two rivers - the Danube and Sava, which is best admired from the medieval fortress of Beograde. Here are my favorite pictures.

Moldova's National Development Plan Open for Public Debate

For the last several years, anyone interested in understanding the Moldovan national development priorities and objectives, has been referred to the famous Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (EGPRSP), developed with the support of the World Bank. There is an entire site dedicated to this document. Initially, the Strategy was intended for 2 years (2004-2006) but due to already unsurprisingly poor implementation and unavailability of any other national development planning document, it was extended for 2007. However, starting 2008 Moldova will have a new document, the National Development Plan, which is currently in the making.

On June 26, the draft NDP – mainly the product of line ministries and governmental institutions – was brought out for public debate at a National Forum. It can be found on the same EGPRSP website. It is good to see the Government initiate a broad so-called “consultative process” regarding the national development concept and selected development priorities. While the EGPRSP was a sector-based strategy with a multitude of priorities, the NDP is a priority-driven and goal-oriented document. The five proposed priorities are: 1) consolidation of a democratic, modern, rule-of- law-type of state; 2) solving the Transnistrian conflict and country’s reintegration; 3) enhancing competitiveness of national economy; 4) human capital development; 5) regional development.

In my view, these priorities are adequate for a mid-term (2008-2011) national development document, and manage to capture the areas, which – if left unattended – could hinder the country’s development for another decade or so. The ways in which problems in these priorities areas are proposed to be addressed should be the real focus of public debate before the adoption and then implementation of the NDP. Also, various public and private (both for-profit and non-profit) stakeholders should study the draft NDP, identify their role in, and start preparing for the future implementation process.

...And the debate has already started. Andrei Popov on his blog says that the draft NDP is more of a technical rather than strategic document, its most important shortcoming being the fact that Moldova's development concept lacks any connection to the external environment, perpetuating isolation and self-centeredness. Given Moldova's accute vulnerability to external political and economic ups and downs, dependency on external funds for development, as well as European integration aspirations, this indeed appears as a serious strategic shortfall that needs to be remedied.

Chisinau City Has a Non-Communist Mayor

The results of the runoff elections for the mayor of Chisinau City are as follows:
For Dorin Chirtoaca (pictured), the Liberal Party candidate, voted 61,17% of the electorate(130,181), and for the Communist candidate - 38,83 % (82,653 people). It is indeed a stunning result, Chirtoaca winning with over 22%!

Given that my biggest concern was that the participation in the runoff elections would be too low for validation, I am happy to learn that the participation rate was as high as 35% in Chisinau City. Therefore, it is almost certain that Chisinau will have a young, charismatic and reform-orientated mayor.

Congratulations to Dorin and all Chisinau residents!