One of Europe’s most crucial votes this year – an Oct. 20 referendum in Moldova on whether to eventually join the European Union – ended up with a squeak-by approval of just over 50%. The slim margin of victory came as a shock. Years of polling indicated strong support for EU membership in one of the Continent’s smallest and poorest countries.
Yet a closer look suggests that the win was quite remarkable, only confirming why so many countries in Eastern Europe seek to live under EU values.
An estimated 10% of Moldova’s electorate was targeted with bribes from inside Russia to vote against EU membership, according to officials. Such wholesale corruption of low-income citizens – costing some $16 million in bribe money – is exactly why a majority of Moldovans want to join the graft-fighting bloc. Without the bribery, the victory margin might have been much wider.
After the referendum, Moldova’s pro-EU and Harvard-trained president, Maia Sandu, explained the task ahead. “Unfortunately, the justice system failed to do enough to prevent vote-rigging and corruption,” she told a news conference. “Here, too, we must draw a line, correct what went wrong, and learn the lesson. We heard you: we know we must do more to fight corruption.”
Perhaps just as remarkable in the referendum was the relatively high turnout of voters under 35 years old. That rings true across many countries in the region. A new survey of young people ages 14 to 29 in a dozen countries from Albania to Turkey finds that nearly two-thirds say their biggest concern is corruption – even more than employment, climate change, and other worries. In other words, a desire for honesty and transparency in government is driving change in these countries, as it is in Moldova.
“The prospect of EU membership maintains a high level of optimism among young people in non-member countries,” stated the survey, which was commissioned by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, a German foundation. “Most young people in the region adhere to democratic values despite a general decline in trust in democracy as the preferred form of government.”
One notable find among youth: “Those with higher levels of fear of joblessness share a stronger belief in democracy as a favourable political system.” As see in Moldova’s vote, young people in southeast Europe embrace pro-democratic values, especially civic equality and rule of law, that nurture honest governance.