DCAF, the Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance, is organising a practitioner development programme for civil society members in Moldova, entitled Navigating European Security: Moldova's Accession and Strategic Choices, running from June to November 2026.

Security has moved to the heart of Moldova's EU accession. Brussels no longer assesses candidate countries on regulatory compliance alone – it looks at their capacity to contribute to collective European security. Hybrid threats, resilience, rule of law, defence cooperation: these are now crucial accession benchmarks. For Moldovan civil society, this shift is an opening. EU institutions are actively seeking credible, country-specific expertise from organisations that speak their policy language. But that window requires preparation to use well.

Designed for think tanks, policy NGOs, and independent experts, we are proposing a five-month practitioner development programme built around peer learning, expert engagement, and a concrete policy output that you will develop with expert mentoring and present at the closing event.

The programme will be coordinated by Dr. Sonja Stojanović Gajić, a leading expert in security policy and former coordinator of civil society networks engaged in security and rule of law accession negotiations in Serbia and the Western Balkans. Alongside her, the programme will bring together a curated faculty of practitioners and experts: officials from EU institutions, civil society leaders and policy practitioners from countries that have navigated accession before and Moldovan experts who know the national context from the inside. This will not be a lecture series, rather a conversation between people who have done this work, and those who are doing it now.

PROGRAMME STRUCTURE

The programme will be structured in three phases.

• In-Person Kick-Off, 4–5 June 2026, Chișinău

• • Two days of intensive work to establish the strategic framework, map Moldova's security landscape, meet your cohort, and launch your policy project.

• Five Online Sessions, Late June – October 2026

• • Structured 3-hour sessions every three to four weeks (organised crime,  rule of law and accession benchmarks, migration and border governance, hybrid threats and societal resilience, and Moldova's role as a security provider). Expert input, applied group work, and iterative development of your policy project.

• In-Person Closing Module, Late October/Early November 2026, Chișinău

• • 3 days of policy project presentations, live EU advocacy simulation, and direct engagement with EU-based practitioners and Moldovan policy stakeholders.

We ask participants to commit to attending at least 70% of all sessions and completing their policy project in a team.

WHO THIS IS FOR

Up to 20 places are available, selected competitively. We are looking for practitioners from Moldovan think tanks, policy NGOs, advocacy organisations, and independent expert networks working on security, governance, human rights, or EU integration with at least two years of relevant experience. The cohort is kept small by design: for peer learning to work, every participant will bring something real to the table.

NEXT STEP: MANIFEST YOUR INTEREST, AND TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF

If you would like to participate in this training programme, please send your indication of interest to j.jin@dcaf.ch.

We are asking all prospective applicants to complete a pre-programme survey (15 minutes) before we finalise the design and select participants. Your answers will directly shape the depth and emphasis of each session, help us match you with the right mentor, and ensure the programme reflects the actual knowledge and interests of the cohort.

Please rsvp and complete the survey by Thursday, 21 May 2026, using the link hereafter:

DCAF training on EU security for civil society in Moldova (pre-programme survey) – Fill out form

Filling in the survey is a prerequisite for consideration — but it does not commit you to participation. We will follow up with shortlisted applicants shortly after the deadline.