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Diaspora Days to be organized in Moldova in the third week of August

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On June 8th, the Government of Moldova decided that Diaspora Days would be celebrated in the third week of August with events dedicated to the Moldovan diaspora. Once in two years, an ordinary Congress of the Diaspora will be gathered.

According to the Government, the goals of the Diaspora Days are to ensure the dialogue between diaspora and the country and to mobilize the Moldovan associations abroad to promote Moldova.

The events will be organized by a Governmental Committee that will include representatives of the State Chancellery, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Work, Social Protection and Family, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Youth and Sport, all in collaboration with local administration authorities.

The costs will be covered by the state budget, but also through sponsorship.

Statistics read that between 500 thousand and 1 million Moldovan citizens live or/and work abroad.

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Diaspora

A visit to Paris – the first results presented by President Maia Sandu

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On February 3-4, President Maia Sandu paid an official visit to Paris, at the invitation of President Emmanuel Macron. It was the first time in 24 years that a Moldovan president set foot on French soil at the invitation of the head of state, as Emmanuel Macron mentioned. “Your visit here is not accidental. It corresponds to the turning point that the Republic of Moldova recently had, when a personality with integrity and backbone, who has been fighting for years for the rule of law and a state without corruption, has been elected as president,” the French official added.

On February 8, President Maia Sandu held a press briefing, where she presented the results of her working visit in France. According to the official, re-establishing an active dialogue with France is also of major importance for the dialogue with the EU, as France is the country that will hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2022.

What’s more, “France is among the top ten investors in the Republic of Moldova. French companies offer our citizens thousands of jobs. The French language is a milestone for thousands of young people in Moldova who choose to study at universities in France. Also, tens of thousands of our fellow citizens live in France,” Maia Sandu stated.

Beside President Emmanuel Macron, the Moldovan head of state had common meetings with high-ranking officials, associations and business representatives in France, such as Gérard Larcher, President of the Senate of the French Republic, Richard Ferrand, President of the National Assembly, Jean-Yves Le Drian, Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs, Amélie de Montchalin, Minister for Transformation and Public Service, Louise Mushikiwabo, Secretary General of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, as well as the management of MEDEF (Mouvement des Entreprises de France) – the largest employers’ association in France.

The meeting of Maia Sandu with French business representatives was attended by such companies as Alstom, Airbus Hélicoptères, Orange, Eco Delta, GE Capital, Oberthur Chash Protection, ADEPTA/GNIS, Société Geismar, L3G, IN Group, Veolia, TECOFI.

During the common meetings, the biggest challenges and reform priorities for Moldova were discussed – fighting corruption, reforming the judiciary, strengthening democratic processes and institutions, ensuring energy security, creating an economic environment conducive to business development, attracting investment and job creation, boosting development at the community level, as well as the Transnistrian conflict, the geopolitical situation, and the progress of Moldova in implementing the Association Agreement, as the Moldovan president informed.

Maia Sandu announced that the French Government intends to include Moldova in the list of countries eligible for assistance from the French Development Agency. A group of experts will pay a visit to Chisinau to explore possible areas of assistance in March 2021.

After meeting with potential French investors and representatives of French business environment, the head of state mentioned that their concerns are the same as those of domestic investors – distrust of Moldovan judiciary and attempts by various state officials to extort money from companies. “In other words – they fear corruption.” At the same time, a good news is that a project on the elimination of double taxation was initialled at expert level during the visit to Paris. As following, it would need to be approved and implemented by the Moldovan Government.

Topics related to the Moldovan diaspora issues (social protection and conversion of driving licenses for Moldovan citizens in France) were discussed, along with the need for consultancy in private and public sectors, at central and local level provided by French experts.

“This visit proved once again that we have real friends in the great European capitals – if we are open to reform, start a real fight against corruption and work for the rule of law.”

Photos: presedinte.md

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Diaspora

Record remittances sent to Moldova during the COVID-19 pandemic – expert’s explanation

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The remittances sent by Moldovans from abroad reached a record level in May 2020. The last time there was a larger amount of money transferred from abroad was only in October 2014.

The economic policy expert Veaceslav Ioniță believes that the significant increase is, paradoxically, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to his estimations, during the period of April-May, when there were quarantine and closed borders, Moldovan citizens could not bring into the country around $150 million. Part of this money were transferred through official transfer systems, that reducing the amount of unofficial transfers, is noted in the opinion published on the page of the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDSI) “Viitorul”.

According to the expert, one third of all money from abroad are usually transferred to Moldova through informal ways, without using any official money transfer channels. “Each year, Moldovans receive almost $1.2 billion through official transfers, but also they sell on the foreign exchange market about $2.1 billion. The difference of 900 million dollars per year is the money that is introduced into the country through informal ways,” said the expert.

The total recorded transfers between April to May amounted $227 million, that being $14 million more than in 2019. At the same time, the foreign exchange sales during this period represented only 50% of the last year’s amount – $259 million. “April and May 2020 were the only two months in the history of transfers, when the money came almost exclusively through official channels. This explains this ‘miraculous’ growth,” concluded Veaceslav Ioniță.

The number of Moldovan citizens aged 15 and over who were working or were looking for a job abroad was 352 700 in 2018, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data. That represented 35,68% of the total available workforce of the country in the same year.

People living in the Republic of Moldova, along with the whole economy of the country, are greatly dependant on the remittances sent by Moldovan citizens who live abroad. About 20% of all families with children in Moldova are supported by a family member who is a migrant. The concentration of such families in rural areas is three times higher than in urban areas, according to data from the NBS cited by the UNDP Moldova.

This money represent not only an important source of income for people living in Moldova, but also contribute to the increase of GDP nominal value. In 2018, the Republic of Moldova has been listed the 9th in a world ranking of remittances related to GDP, with a share of 16,1%, according to the World Bank data.

See also: Who? How? Where? Why? The migration profile of the Republic of Moldova

Due to the negative impact of COVID-19, remittances sent to Moldova are expected to decrease by 24-27% in the future, informed the UNDP Moldova. Decreasing remittance flows were predicted by the World Bank in the whole world. It was estimated that about 17% of all migrants have already stopped remitting to their families. In such a way, 23,4% of Moldovan households risk to be placed below the poverty line if they did not receive remittances.

Photo: Sharon McCutcheonUnsplash

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Commission for Emergency Situations: first pay medical insurance, then enter the country

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Starting April 1, all persons returning from abroad are be obliged to commit to buy medical insurance before taking their first step on the Moldovan land. This decision was taken by the Commission for Emergency Situations of the Republic of Moldova.

On March 31, the official mechanism of bringing home the Moldovan citizens who have been blocked abroad was approved.

According to the provision no. 10 approved by the Commission for Emergency Situations, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration is in charge of making the lists of Moldovan citizens who have been blocked abroad, the Civil Aeronautical Authority must coordinate the charter flights organisation, while the airline operators have to verify the insurance status of the persons and admit on board only those who paid the compulsory health insurance fee through the governmental system mpay.gov.md.

Therefore, all persons arriving from abroad are obliged to buy medical insurance, regardless of where they come from and whether they arrive by air or by land. Citizens who intend to cross the state border by air have to pay the compulsory health insurance fee before entering the country, while those who cross the state border by land are obliged to fill in a declaration that the fee will be paid within 72 hours.

The Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) notified the Court of Appeal regarding the decision of the Commission for Emergency Situations, saying that the decision is unconstitutional and illegal. “There is no such legal provision that allows the authorities to prohibit people from returning to their home. They are citizens of the Republic of Moldova and such pretexts that if you do not have medical insurance you cannot take a plane ticket and you cannot land in Moldova are intolerable,” said Maia Sandu, the PAS leader, for Jurnal TV.

The measure regarding the health insurance fee payment was commented by the political expert Dionis Cenuşă as well. The specialist says that there is a violation of fundamental human rights.

“Restricting Moldovans’ access to the country if they do not pay for healthcare insurance may have serious implications concerning human rights. […] It is true that the authorities can apply restrictions, including on how Moldovan citizens can return to the country. But, at the same time, the law clearly states that restrictions should not be applied according to a series of criteria, including that of social origin. In other words, when the Commission decided to introduce a payment obligation for healthcare, it automatically produces effects on the people who are forced to return to the country, because they are economic migrants. Therefore, the adopted measure has a discriminatory effect on the principle of social origin because Moldovan emigrants are targeted and, at the same time, because they may be lacking financial resources upon returning to the country,” stated the political expert.

On the other hand, Prime Minister Ion Chicu claimed that all citizens of the Republic of Moldova are obliged to pay the health insurance fee and that Moldovans who come back from abroad are not an exception. “This is not a discrimination, it is about law enforcement,” the prime minister declared for TV8.

The restrictive measure is especially important now, when thousands of Moldovan citizens have lost their jobs abroad and their source of income. Instead of finding the optimal solutions to protect these citizens and ensure their possibility to return home safely, the authorities restrict their constitutional right by conditioning the borders crossing.

The health insurance annual payment in Moldova is currently 4 056 lei (about 204 euro).

Photo: moldova.europalibera.org

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