Moldova

Overall situation and state of civil society

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In 2023, the Republic of Moldova continued to face the consequences of the aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, namely energy, economic, social crises and security threats. The administration of the country continued under the conditions of the state of emergency adopted by Parliament immediately after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and successively extended until the end of 2023. During 2023, the Republic of Moldova hosted over 100,000 people displaced from Ukraine as a result of the war. The year began with a change of government. In February 2023, Dorin Recean was elected as prime minister, after the resignation of Natalia Gavriliță. The Government led by Recean continued the previously established path of European Union (EU) integration and pursued the agenda for fulfilling EU conditionality in order to open accession negotiations. These efforts were recognised in November by the European Commission's recommendation to open accession negotiations with Moldova. Part of the Government’s efforts have been directed at strengthening security and countering the influence of the Russian Federation which is waging a hybrid war against the Republic of Moldova, especially in the information environment, as a significant segment of the population (35 per cent) still shares Russian propaganda narratives. In June, the Constitutional Court declared unconstitutional and dissolved the ŞOR political party on the grounds that it militates against the sovereignty and independence of the Republic of Moldova and undermines democracy and the principles of the rule of law. Previously, the leader of the Party, the fugitive Ilan Șor, was sentenced to 15 years in prison in a financial fraud case with the obligation to return over 260 million EUR, and the EU Council imposed sanctions on several persons, including the leaders of the Party, for actions destabilising the Republic of Moldova. Members of a party that has been declared unconstitutional who are suspected, accused, indicted, convicted or included on international sanctions lists were subsequently prohibited from standing for election.

In 2023, there were several positive developments in the civil society organisations (CSO) enabling environment that led to increases in the overall scores in five of the eleven areas (Equal treatment, Right to Participation in Decision-Making, State Support, State-CSO Cooperation and Digital Rights). In one area (Right to Privacy) there was a decrease in the overall score. Most changes that have occurred in the CSO enabling environment are as a result of the implementation of actions provided for in the requirements for the EU to open accession negotiations, especially from the chapter referring to Enhancing the involvement of civil society in decision making processes at all levels. Thus, Parliament adopted laws with an impact on the CSO environment, including a new law on access to information, a new law on whistleblowers, and amendments to the anti-money laundering (AML) legislation regarding the beneficial owners of CSOs. The Government and Parliament also created consultative and cooperation platforms. 

The top three areas by score are the same as in 2022: Freedom of Association (5.5), Freedom of Peaceful Assembly (5.3) and Access to Funding (5.3). In the area of Freedom of Association, the main deficiencies relate to the registration procedure for CSOs which requires improvement, specifically in its practical aspects through digitalisation and simplification of the required formalities. The changes in this area include a new form of CSO (the Intercommunity Development Association) introduced to provide higher quality services to local communities and exemption of trade unions and employers’ unions from the state registration fee. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly enjoys a very good legal framework, but the application of limitations to peaceful assemblies imposed during the state of emergency in 2022, continued to be applied in 2023. Also in this area, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) initiated a review of the freedom of assembly legislation including from the perspective of General Comment No. 37 of the UN Human Rights Committee. In the area of Access to Funding, Parliament adopted a controversial law on crowdfunding which only regulates commercial crowdfunding and ignores CSOs.

The three areas with the lowest overall scores are Right to Privacy (4.3), State CSO-Cooperation (4.3) and Digital Rights (4.3). The Right to Privacy score decreased following the adoption of legal provisions granting increased powers for intelligence officers to use the means of surveillance of private life. A draft law on data protection, the so-called ‘Moldovan GDPR’, was initiated based almost entirely on the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The score in the area of State-CSO Cooperation increased after the adoption of the CSO Development Programme 2024-2027 and the annual conference ‘Cooperation between Parliament and Civil Society’ resumed after seven years. The score in the area of Digital Rights also increased after the adoption of the Digital Transformation Strategy of Moldova 2030, which refers tangentially to several aspects related to the enhancement of digital rights.

Other important developments in the CSO environment, by area, include:

• Right to Participation in Decision-Making: the new draft Parliament Code and an increasing number of formats for participation at the central and local levels.
• Freedom of Expression: participation with CSOs in the creation of the Centre for Strategic Communication and Combating Disinformation.  
• State Support: the overall area score and score for practice increased after social enterprises benefit from an exemption to pay the tax on undistributed profit for three years. The Central Public Administrations (CPAs) also started to adopt new granting regulations, based on the Framework Regulation from 2022. 

Video story

How did the CSO Meter help push back on restrictions on freedom of assembly? Find out more from Florin Gisca, Promo-LEX Association (Moldova):