A direct contact among the University students from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Moldova inspired students to thought-sharing. Short essay bellow shows what the students have to say on the topic of European Integration and Reform Experience of the Visegrad countries and how it relates to Moldova’s European path.

Republic of Moldova
Title: Can the Experience of Visegrad Countries be useful to Moldova’s European Integration?
Author: Augustin Ignatov
University: Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova, International Economic Relationship, 1^st year

“The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” Confucius

In our modern world , where everything is changing fast , where challengies accurs so often , is much better to work together in order to become more efficient and powerful. An bright example where difficulties are met more effective in group is the Visegred Union. It is formed from four countries Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia, which have many things in common, beginning with history and finishing with present. The inheritance they had obtained referring to the communism past , did not offered a light way for becoming better in future without hard-working . We ,also have the same experience , but the difference between our state and Visegrad group is the ability to become more organized which the least had. What had we common in the past? I am suppose to think that corruption , social inequality , economic problems and poverty were the things that we had to deal with. The countries I have mentioned before understood that they can solve these problems only with common effort. They reported astonishing success , from which we must learn a lot. Since the collapse of soviet era in 1991 lasted 23 years, the Vicegrad countries are in European family and we are not, this fact means that we should work to become EU member, being motivated by the efficiency of our friends’ example.

Taking in consideration what I have mentioned before ,some questions occurs for me : which mistakes did we made? , where has everything gone wrong ? How can we learn from the experience of Visegrad states.?

The success of the Visegrad countries was assured by the consequent steps which were made by the national governments. Firstly, the political and constitutional reforms had a good impact on the whole system of the countries. The necessity for these important reforms was seen even early in 1968 when was the Prague Revolution , or in 1980s when there were many rebelions against the communist regime , which almost fall in Poland under the pressure of the national leader Leh Walesa who led huge protests of population . Moreover, the population wanted a change , liberty and democracy , this fact is shown in the enormous desire to make everything to be better, to feel that you are the only leader of the whole life. . Thus , after the fall of Soviet Union in 1991 , was evident that the regime which was before would never return to the power. The new rulers , were patriots which were concerned about national future of each country. The efficient legislation is the key to the success of these European countries. For example , the reforms which were conducted by the Czech president Vaclav Havel were inspired by the nation power and unity,based on great experience of the past and national virtues as honesty , beauty and desire for freedom . In Poland , Slovakia and Hungary there were the same processes of democratization . Furthermore, in the political domain was made huge progress than was based on the separation of power in each country. The new constitutions which were adopted (for example in Czech Republic in 1992) made possible a legal framework of development , a new way to a bright future. Another major point was the possibility of making elections in parliament as well as in other structures, in Poland , Hungary , Slovakia and Czech Republic it brought a real democracy which cannot be destroyed by nothing. The people of each of the states know what is better for them.There will not be elected persons who are not respected by the people. Thus , we can see that political reforms of these countries stant at the base of their success , because it cannot exist a normal development without laws which bring stability in the society. Also, it is obvious that in these states the political system assure transparency and trust , because only the government which has the support of the population can perform tasks and face challengies that occurs. So, we can underline that the right steps taken at the right moment which are so necessary reforms could make a country to be better , in terms of human development and liberty protection , this fact is evident to obtain success, thing that was surely made by natonal leaders and nations as a whole of these countries . At the same time , the cooperation among these nations made possible the fact of taking together the responsibility for the better future ,because only cooperation on political level and not only can make possible the progress we dream about very much.

The other domain in which Visegrad states reported huge success was the economy. Having a good and efficient legislation , a trustworthy justice the economy could only succeed , because the wealth of the nation would be almost normal distributed. The communist system could not be effective , because it destroyed the personal entrepreneurship , it was in stagnation it was rotten from the inside. The changing of a highly centralized socialst economy to one led by market competition made the Visegrad group to be flexible. A democratic economy made possible the opportunity of investments from abroad. For example , in the Hungary as well as in the other Visegrad countries were made investment from outside of billions of dollars , which determine a smooth way of economic prosperity. As a result the GDP of Poland rose from 75 to 829 billion in almost 15 years , of Czech Republic to 295 billion, of Hungary to 195 billion and of Slovakia to 135 billion. The growing economy was very attractive for other investrors , as a result were constructed many plants , facilities, roads . The entire sectors of economies were rebuilt ,this fact made possible the redotation with new technical devices which improved the efficiency , as a result it became more better to export different industry products and not only on the foreign markets and to acquire new ones . For example the Poland is one of the main exporters of the Europe (machinery, metals , cars), it gained such a huge success because of restructuring of its economy through making the unproductive facilities and sectors to work better than ever . The companies as Toyota, Sony , Scoda feel very confortable in the Visegrad countries , because the business environment in very pleasant. This why , the huge process of reorganization had such a good results , thus the Visegrad states transformed from receivers of international assistance to donators of this . As a result we can take in account many examples from the Visegrad states in order to become more efficient a powerful in the economic field.

Another domain in which the east European countries mentioned before had succes is the social security. The people in that union will not suffer from hunger , because the states provide a effective policy in this domain. All the people can benefit from a good health system there , no one will be thrown in the street being seek. The European Union allocated many funds for the local governments in these countries as a support. Moreover, to become a state member of EU , the coutries made right steps in order to support minorities . Everyone can benefit from the studies in the language he or she was born. It was made a huge effort by the governments of these countries to overcome the problem of poverty and unsafety in the society.So , it is no difference if you are polish or czezh , the only thing that matters is your values. What I like the most is the fact that each member of the society can benefit from the same set of rights, this why the most competitive can achieve more than another .So , we see that starting with 1991 till 2004 (the year when the Visegrad countries joint the EU) were made many successful steps to improve the society , to share common European values as libery of individual , safety of individual , democracy.

As a result , I would like to say that the nations of Visegrad states , made together a huge effort , which has such a beautiful result, which cannot be reduced only at growing GDP , but at something more important as happiness , safety, and the hope in a better future.

Making a conclusion , I want to underline that the experience of Visegrad Countries in very important for Republic of Moldova , because we can learn more efficient about the reforms and improvement made by these states to become EU members. Furthermore , we can benefit from the support of these states , their assistance in many domains is so indispensable . We could reform our justice and economy consulting our friends. Additional , I want to say that future of our republic can be much better as a result of cooperation with out Visegrad partners , because this fact means stability , honour , progress. In modern conditions , the European Union is a vital organization which provides values as liberty , equality and stability which is so necessary for us , because we could not exist as a nation , a country and an entity without these basic virtues.In my opinion , the only opportunity for us is the European Union , but to join it we must work much more than we could even imagine , but being based on Visegrad countries example we could achieve good results in optimal terms. As we can see , these partners are stable and powerful enough to help Republic of Moldova to change the past soviet menthality into the European one. To make this thing living we must work , and how said Confucius , step by step we will get the result we dream about so much-European Integration.