When the heads of the EU and Eastern Partnership countries gather for the EaP-summit in Vilnius in November 2013, Moldova as well as the other five EaP countries will hope to sign an Associations Agreement with the EU, especially a free trade agreement (DCFTA) and visa liberalization. The Republic of Moldova was once the showcase amongst the EaP-members, today this reputation is lost as a result of the political crisis in 2013: dysfunctional political institutions and endemic corruption came to the fore. Therefore, David Rinnert argues, the EU should re-evaluate the situation in the Republic of Moldova and critically rethink its own approach in the country.