აღმოსავლეთ პარტნიორობის ქვეყნებში ევროკავშირის შესახებ გავრცელებული მითები

Myths related to the process of European integration and the signing of the Association Agreement with the European Union are persistent in the Republic of Moldova. The most controversial of these are determined by several factors, which go hand in hand with considerable shifts in Moldova’s political climate. We could mention these political factors briefly: 1) the support for the European idea is continuously decreasing and is paradoxically lower than during Communist majority rule of 2005 - 2009; 1 2) the current government promotes the Association Agreement in an unfavorable context (unlike the accession of new states to the EU, which enjoyed the full support of the population), which increases the risks associated with the process; 3) the European agenda is promoted under these conditions within a narrow circle of people, gradually becoming a clique affair; 4) the criticism of integration processes by the opposition is confusing, focusing more on a Europeanism deficit in Moldova (not enough Europeanization) rather than on refuting of the European idea (the Europeans are accused of failing to adhere to their own ideas in the fight against corruption, free market, and enlargement). All these tendencies make the Republic of Moldova’s European integration increasingly unpopular. At the same time they take place with a grimness and absence of clear alternatives. Public officials prefer to characterize this process as having an irreversible character, but a more accurate term would be an inertial course/coasting, due to the lack of sufficiently strong forces that could obstruct this process. In addition to this, another phenomenon could be mentioned: a significantly growing number of newly formed groups hostile to integration. These groups emerge from different areas: political (the Party of Communists (PCRM), Party of Socialists, Party of Regions, etc.), administrative (municipal and regional leaders), nongovernmental organizations (a range of political commentators and nongovernmental organizations including the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly, the Institute for Research and Strategic Reforms, etc.), and academics. Although this opposition suffers from the flaws and inconsistencies of the prior anti-European rhetoric - particularly in the way that these groups seek to demonstrate that today’s Europe is no longer a “generator of development, freedom, and civic solidarity values” consistent with a true Europe (which the opposition respects enormously) - these groups are becoming increasingly vocal and are gaining ground within public discourse. Some of these European integration opponents deny their opposition, claiming instead that they do not dispute the value of the EU but only question certain aspects that did not get enough attention, including the EU’s indifference to oligarchs, negligence of the Eastern factor, or the asymmetry of the DCFTA clearly benefiting the EU and damaging the Republic of Moldova. However, the cumulative effect of these discourses creates a mindset deeply hostile to the European idea.