MOLDOVA: Media Struggles for Independence

By Zoltán Dujisin Reprint | | Print |

Zoltán Dujisin

BUDAPEST, Jan 31 2007 (IPS) - Opposition members and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are accusing Moldova’s communist cabinet of interfering with the work of journalists who are critical of the government.

Moldova, a post-Soviet Republic of 4.5 million bordering Ukraine and Romania, is the poorest country in Europe in spite of 16 years of democratic reform. Since 2001, it has been governed by a pro-European Communist Party.

On Dec. 14 the Chisinau (Moldovan Capital) municipal council announced Euro TV and Antena C radio were to be privatised and its directors replaced with men loyal to authorities.

“We are fighting an unfair privatisation,” Corina Cepoi, interim director of the Chisinau-based Independent Journalism Centre told IPS. “All NGOs, interest groups had access to these channels before, and now we don’t know what will happen.”

Antena C is seen by the communists as an important strategic asset ahead of the local elections to take place in May. With a large rural electorate, reaching Moldova’s agricultural heartland is often only possible through Antena C, one of the few media outlets broadcasting nationwide.

Journalists belonging to the popular radio station that has claimed to be independent protested the decision, claiming it was taken without their consent and in violation of existing legislation.

The station’s headquarters were sealed last month after receiving a bomb threat in what journalists said was a pretext by the police to search the building and put the radio off the air.

The station was closed and searched at a time when it was airing a report critical of the government’s plans to privatise it. Antena C did not resume its activities until one month after, already with a new director in place.

The state media regulator initially blamed the interruption on a technical malfunction, but later claimed a new contract between the regulator and the station was pending, along with approval by the Ministry of Information.

Euro TV has also witnessed disagreements between its staff and the new administration, which has decided to take several programmes off the air under the pretext that some journalists lacked professionalism.

Authorities have not made statements on the issue. When asked to comment on the fact the ruling party would be in control of Antena C, Communist President Vladimir Voronin bluntly replied, “What’s wrong with that?”

Critics allege the stations’ privatisation lacked transparency. Their concerns were backed by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE) mission in Moldova and European Union ambassadors in Chisinau.

“Free, independent and pluralistic broadcast media are crucial for the development of a functioning democracy,” said a statement signed by various European embassies.

But several polls have shown that Moldovans are not positively inclined towards a pluralistic democracy, and a majority would prefer a one-party rule to return to the country.

With a very weak civil society relying mostly on Western funds and priorities, it is often the international community that raises its voice in protest against certain authoritarian practices to which the population might be indifferent.

“This has happened several times; only if the international community intervenes do authorities back off,” Cepoi told IPS. “In this case they didn’t because they felt nobody was watching around Christmas time.”

Moldova has a number of negative precedents involving freedom of expression. Earlier this month the European Court of Human Rights ruled the country’s government must compensate the Kommersant Moldovy newspaper.

The paper had published an article in 2001 criticising the communist authorities for their handling of the conflict taking place in Moldova’s breakaway region of Transnistria.

Two years ago the Moldovan Prosecutor-General’s Office ordered the newspaper’s closure alleging it had spread separatist ideals and had undermined Moldova’s security and territorial integrity. The paper resurfaced under a new name shortly after.

“We are permanently dealing with cases regarding journalists who did a good job, and authorities try to control and influence them,” Cepoi told IPS. “This can be done through court cases, by sending the tax police, or by giving them huge fines.”

Before the Communist Party’s crushing victory in the 2001 parliamentary elections that gave them 70 percent of seats, no political force had managed to articulate a coherent media policy due to a very fragmented political culture.

The communists proved much more able to relate to the common voter, showing greater discipline and internal cohesion, and becoming the only party with a nationwide, well-organised grassroots network.

Their government brought stability and economic growth to a country disillusioned with chaotic liberal economic reforms, winning genuine popularity and securing a second term in office in 2005 in spite of misgivings with the media.

The Party is a mixture of moderate and more orthodox communists who have agreed on a pragmatic route for governing Moldova. The communists nominally stand for civil and human rights as essential to a modern socialist ideology, ensure respect for all forms of ownership and aspire to integration in the European Union (EU).