Lord Dubs Addresses Plenary of Moldovan Parliament during Trust Visit
Trust Advisor Lord Dubs of Battersea, Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Moldova, addressed the Moldovan Parliament on the issue of EU integration as part of a visit to promote applications for the John Smith Fellowship Programme. The Speaker of the Moldovan Parliament Dr. Marian Lupu presided over the session which attracted a full attendance of MPs. The main message of Lord Dubs’ speech was the need for Moldova to show progress towards establishing an independent judicial system, combating corruption, protecting human rights and the rights of minorities, and ensuring a free and unbiased media. In Lord Dubs’ words, "The better Moldova proves its progress in these sectors, the bigger its chances of negotiating the EU member status are. If Moldova’s progress is slow, it will be difficult for the European Union to back its integration cause."
Lord Dubs addressing Moldovan Parliament, October 6th 2007 – Photo c/o Moldpres News Agency
Lord Dubs began his speech by praising the John Smith Fellowship Programme:
“My first visit (to Moldova) was on behalf of the John Smith memorial Trust as a member of its Advisory Committee. I am sure many of you are aware of the work of this trust. Every year we invite young people from Moldova, as well as from Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan. We select these people to come to the UK for a 5 week course covering democratic institutions, media, British politics, local government and economic development. We expect our alumni to be high achievers when they return to their countries and indeed they are. Some have become members of Parliament, advisers to senior Ministers, heads of NGOs but we do not yet have a President or Prime Minister among them. However you may be aware that the present Moldovan Ambassador to the United Nations is a John Smith fellow.” (For a full text of the speech, follow this link: Lord Dubs' speech)
In a press briefing alongside Lord Dubs after the event, Grigore Petrenco MP, Chairman of the Moldovan Parliamentary Committee for Foreign Policy and European Integration, described the visit by the Trust delegation as good for relations between the Moldovan and British parliaments.
Lord Dubs’ speech was one event in a five-day visit organized by the UK Embassy in Moldova and the Division on Foreign Parliamentary Relations of the Parliament of Moldova. The visit had a dual theme: EU integration, and also devolution. There is an active interest in using the UK experience in NI, Scotland and Wales as an example for the Moldovan government. The very different UK approaches to devolved government could be of use as a background to discussions on the futures of Transdniestria and Gagauzia.
Lord Dubs was a Government Minister for Northern Ireland during the critical years leading up to the Good Friday Agreement. Joining him in the delegation were the Rt Hon Alun Michael MP, the Founding First Minister of the Welsh Assembly, and the Rt Hon George Reid, recently retired as Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament and Chair of the Steering Group for Governance in the Northern Ireland Assembly. Emma MacLennan accompanied them on behalf of the Trust, along with Jennie Partington from Lord Dubs’ office.
The visit included a number of parliamentary meetings. The delegation discussed issues of EU integration and devolved government with members of the Committee for Foreign Policy and European Integration, hosted by the Chairman, Grigore Petrenco MP. There was a roundtable discussion on UK models of devolution attended by a number of MPs from all parties, and a session hosted by the Minister for Local Public Administration, Mr. Valentin Guznac on UK examples of good local administration.
Meeting with Moldovan MPs on devolved government: Mr Grigore Petrenco and Lord Dubs
The delegation also met John Smith Fellows in Moldova. The Trust has 21 alumni members from Moldova, including some currently working or studying abroad such as HE Alexei Tulbure, the Moldovan Ambassador to the UN, and Stela Mocan, who has just taken up a prestigious scholarship at the Kennedy School of Government in New York. Local John Smith alumni in Moldova used the opportunity of the delegation’s visit to organize an informal discussion with members of a new UK Alumni Association – an initiative spearheaded by John Smith Fellows. They are currently in the process of registering the association, and will soon organise their first general meeting to elect officers.
The alumni group meeting was well-attended with a good discussion. Chairing on behalf of the Fellows was Eugeniu Burdelnii (JS 2005). He was joined by Petru Lungu (JS 2001), Natalia Sontu (Motili) (JS 2002), Vitalie Iovitsa (JS 2004), Dr. Iulian Fruntasu (JS 2006) and Dinu Toderascu (JS 2007). Nicoleta Irimia of the BC Romania also attended. There were alumni of other programmes there too, including Chevening Scholars and UK graduates.
Meeting of the new UK Alumni Association – photo www.europa.md
The delegation found there is enormous interest in Moldova in examining UK models of devolution and learning from the UK experience – particularly the experience of Northern Ireland, where armed conflict has been replaced by consensus and a new Northern Ireland Assembly. As part of the visit, the Rt Hon George Reid delivered a keynote speech to the Foreign Policy Association (APE, Asociatiei de Politică Externe) School on Conflict Resolution. The event, chaired by Dr. Lupu, kicked off a 3-day “Transnistrian Dialogue” involving representatives from both banks of the Nistru River (members of the legislative bodies, central and local authorities, businessmen, NGO leaders, journalists, analysts) along with international experts. The aim of the project is to lay the groundworks for future communication between young leaders in Moldova and Transdniestria. George’s speech, “Arriving at Yes,” draws lessons from Northern Ireland and also other parts of the world - the Balkans, the Caucasus and Africa - where he worked during his time as Director of Public Affairs for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent. George’s key message to the conference was that…
“adversarial approaches to conflict resolution — where one side sees the other as an opponent who must give in — resolve nothing. That if Positions are the basis of negotiation, someone is likely to lose. But if talks centre on Issues, on underlying Needs, we may just get to a magic moment where the parties recognise that they have a common problem which requires to be jointly resolved.” (For a full text of the speech, follow this link: Download PDF).
Rt Hon George Reid addressing Foreign Policy Association (APE) “Transnistrian Dialogue” conference – photo courtesy of www.europa.md
Devolved government was the theme, too, of a visit to Gagauzia where the delegation was hosted by the Baskan (Governor) of Gagauzia, Mihail Formuzal. Since 1994 the Gagauz Autonomy has had special status under the Constitution of Moldova, with its own National Assembly and designated powers of self government. The Baskan chaired a roundtable on UK devolution models with members of the Comrat Popular Assembly There was an enthusiastic exchange of information on issues of local self-government and good practice in local administration. Lord Dubs and Alun Michael also visited Transdniestria, where they met young people working in a local NGO.
Rt Hon Alun Michael JP, MP, presenting the Baskan of Gagauzia with Welsh Dragons during visit to Comrat. To their right: Victor Neagu of the UK Embassy Moldova
The delegation conducted seminars with students in two universities, seeing at first hand the generation who will shape Moldova’s future. At Balţi University the Rt Hon Alun Michael MP spoke on the role of youth in politics and local development. The delegation returned to Chisinau where they addressed students at the State University of Moldova – an event Chaired by Dr. Lupu – followed by a long and lively discussion.
Meeting students of Balti University
On their final day in Moldova, George Reid, Jennie and Emma met with JS Fellows and Friends of the Trust for lunch in Chisinau. In addition to Fellows who attended the earlier meeting, they saw Igor Munteanu (JS 2001), Vlad Catan (JS 2003) and Yuri Brinister (JS 2005). The party also included Dr. Norman Fraser, Founding Director of Endava, a highly-successful Moldovan-based software development company, Dorin Recean, Executive Director of the Millennium Group, and Tatiana Parvu, former First Secretary at the Moldovan Embassy in London now working in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. As a number of our Fellows work in the business sector, there was a general discussion about the business climate in Moldova and issues such as taxation and investment.
John Smith Fellows Vladimir Catan and Eugeniu Burdelnii
The visit was enormously assisted by the support of the UK Embassy in Moldova and the Division on Foreign Parliamentary Relations of the Parliament of Moldova, who jointly sponsored and organized the visit. Great thanks are due to HMA John Beyer, the UK Ambassador to Moldova, Speaker of the Parliament Dr. Marian Lupu, and to Mr. Grigore Petrenco MP, Chair of the Foreign Policy Committee of the Parliament, who each devoted a great deal of their time to ensuring the visit was a success. Thanks are due too, to Victor Neagu, Press and Public Affairs Officer at the Embassy, and Eugeniu Burdelnii, JS 2005 Fellow and Head of the Interparliamentary Relations Unit of the Moldovan Parliament. Eugen and Victor worked together to produce an excellent programme for the delegation.
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