The “Visegrad4Moldova! - Debating the European Union: Visegrad 4 Experience” project has come to an end. Led by MESA10 and supported by the International Visegrad Fund (IVF), the project was implemented from March 2014 to February 2015 in cooperation with partners from Czech Re­public, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Moldova.

Students from the following five universities took part in debates organized during the project:

• Charles University, Prague, Czech Repub­lic;
• Central European University, Budapest, Hun­gary;
• Academy of Economic Studies, Chisinau, Moldova;
• Collegium Civitas, Warsaw, Poland;
• Matej Bel University, Banska Bystrica, Slovakia.

The project connected Moldovan university stu­dents with their peers from V4 and aimed at sharing the EU integration and reform experience of Visegrad 4 (V4) countries with Moldova and strenghtening the understanding of reforms needed  on its European path. Two rounds of live online debates were organized in 2014: one in the Spring Semester (April 23) and one in the Fall Semester (November 5). During the debates, students from the audiences had a chance to interact with the student teams by posing questions. Debates were preceded by lec­tures on European integration and reform experi­ence of V4: in the fall semester, students had an opportunity to talk with Eduard Kukan, member of the European Parliament and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovakia, and with Iulian Groza, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of Moldova.

Online debates of student teams were followed by seminars to acquaint students, faculty members and representatives of civil society in Moldova with IVF grants and scholarships. The project also encouraged students to share their thoughts on EU and V4 reform and integration experience. Essays can be read on the project’s web site blog and facebook. Five best essaysts were honored.

A handout reflecting the opinions of the students on EU integration was printed and distributed at the project’ closure in February 2015.  It is based upon the re­sults of opinion polls taken among the students after the debates. It can be downloaded from the attachment.