Thirteen years after proclaiming its independence, the Republic of Moldova is still a divided country. The Government does not control a fifth of national territory, an area known as Transnistria. The separatist regime, established in the region in early nineties, proclaimed Transnistria an independent country, which was not recognised by any Government. The "negotiations to identify a final solution to the Transnistrian crisis" in their present format last for more than eight years. This negotiations format includes the two parties: the Moldovan Government and the authorities of Transnistria, and three mediators: Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Ukraine and the Russian Federation.

The last "final solution" identified during the negotiations is to transform the Republic of Moldova into a federal state. This idea was first launched in Kiev in July of 2002. Since then, at least three drafts of "constitutional treaties" were submitted for discussion by the mediators. They all envisage the creation of a federal state, composed of two (three) member entities. A number of foreign states (i.e. USA) and international bodies showed their support for the "federal solution" and offered their assistance and expertise in developing a Constitution for a new federal state.

At the same time, the opinion polls on this issue showed that the majority of Moldovan citizens (more than sixty per cent) do not accept the idea of transforming the Republic of Moldova into a federal state. Less than ten per cent approve such a solution, while three per cent would agree with a confederation system. An astonishing twenty-five per cent of citizens did not have any answer to this extremely serious question related to the state they live in. The answers to another two questions are even more alarming. An overwhelmingly eighty per cent of respondents do not know how a federation is different from a unitary state (such as the current Republic of Moldova) and how this change of constitutional system will affect them. And this is true for both those who support the idea of federation and those who oppose it.

There is no data on what the population of Transnistria thinks about the federalisation issue.

The above-mentioned public opinion raises several issues that are currently not taken into account by those who plead for one solution to the Transnistrian crisis or another. The current constitutional structure of the Republic of Moldova can be changed only through a national constitutional referendum. In order for the referendum to be valid, at least half of Moldovan citizens with voting rights must participate in it. The Republic of Moldova will turn into a federation only if half of all citizens with voting right plus one support the amendment at a valid constitutional referendum.

Given the mentioned opinion poll results, it is obvious that the citizens of Moldova will vote at an eventual constitutional referendum without having a clear picture of what they vote for or against, if vote at all.

This situation has a very simple explanation. The authorities are too preoccupied with the negotiation process itself, and do not inform the population on the progress of these negotiations and, most importantly, on the essence of the negotiated solution. There is no real and sincere public debate on this extremely important issue, which will affect every citizen of the country. The only discussion on federalisation is that between the Government, who apparently support the idea, and the opposition parties, who oppose the idea. One has to admit this is not an unusual situation for our country. The Moldovan politicians do not have the habit of consulting their electors when adopting sensitive decisions.

Goals of the Project

The above-described state of affairs is especially true regarding young people. On one hand, there is a widespread "perception" that the young are too inexperienced for their opinion to be taken into account. On the other hand, the young are partly to blame for such an attitude. According to opinion polls, people aged 18-30 are among the least interested in politics, or what they think politics is.

The broad goal of this project is to stimulate debate among young people on the so-called "federalisation issue". Specifically, the following objectives will be aimed at:

a) to find out what young people think about:

negotiation process to solve the Transnistrian crisis;

the "federalisation solution";

Moldovan authorities' performance on this issue.

b) to provide an Internet-based forum for young people to debate this issue;

c) to provide young people with theoretical knowledge and practical skills on:

principles, structure, benefits, shortcomings etc. of a federal state;

variants of "federal solution" drafted in order to be implemented in Moldova;

methods and activities to initiate a debate in a community (city, school, church), involve community members, summarise the results of such a debate etc.

d) to encourage young people to start public debates in their education institutions, families, sport clubs etc. on the "federalisation solution" and other political, social, cultural issues;

e) to present the findings of the conducted survey and the final results of the project to the political class, media and other interested groups.