Romania plans to create a common informational space with neighboring Moldova | Photo: Facebook

The Romanian government has set up a Romania-Moldova mass media consultative board in order to create a joint media space in the two countries, spread EU values and counter Russian influence.

“The board’s mission is to spread European norms to Moldova and explore the opportunities for bilateral cooperation in the mass media,” the Romanian Foreign Ministry said.

The board comprises representatives of the media from the two countries, civil society members and experts in the field of communications.

They will draft proposals to the authorities in both Bucharest and Chisinau and ease the flow of information in the Romanian language in both countries.

“This will contribute not only to the presence of news in Romanian in Moldova, but, more importantly, of news that portrays the reality of Romania and the European Union in a way that is not distorted by anti-European powers,” said Dan Stoenescu, Romanian minister for relations with Romanians living abroad.

“The Romanian language will regain an important role in Moldova, while Russian-speaking people there will also have access to balanced and trustworthy information,” he added.

Romanian analysts welcome the Romanian government’s plans but say they will be difficult to put into practice.

“This is not the first time that Romania wanted to increase its media presence in Moldova. Hopefully, the government will have the resources – money and support from the private media sector – to put this into practice,” historian Cosmin Popa said.

Popa added that it was time to help Moldova get closer to the EU. “Clear steps for unifying the media public space in both countries will support Moldova’s path to European integration,” he added.

Moldova has been engulfed in a prolonged political crisis for years. Since the previous government was ousted last October after an estimated $1 billion went missing from the banking system, two attempts to name a new prime minister failed. A new Prime Minister was finally named in January.

The US, the European Union, and Moldova’s closest ally, EU member Romania, have all said they would work with the new government and have urged it to implement pro-EU reforms.

Although the most widely used language in Moldova is Romanian, around 80 per cent of the media market is in Russian. There is only one Romanian private TV station and one newspaper.

Romania takes a close interest in its neighbour, which was part of Romania from 1918 to 1940, when it was then annexed by the Soviet Union. It became independent in 1991.

Today, about 80 per cent of the country’s 4.1 million population are of Romanian ethnic origin and speak both Romanian and Russian.

Moldova signed an Association Agreement with the European Union in June 2014, but Russia and pro-Moscow parties in the country strongly oppose the idea of EU membership.