The Newsletter is based on the radio programme broadcast on December 12 th , 2016, produced by the Foreign Policy Association of Moldova in partnership with Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung(FES). The programme is broadcast on the Radio Moldova public channel. The programme is part of the FES/APE“European Integration and Foreign Policy Dialogues” Project. The content can be reproduced by mentioning the source. NEWSLETTER MONTHLY BULLETIN DECEMBER 2016 NR.11(129) Synthesis and Foreign Policy Debates The materials are realized by Lina Grau, foreign policy expert and programme coordinator with APE. TOPICS OF THE EDITION: 1. The current newsletter presents the opinions of officials, participants in the“5+2” negotiations format, local and international experts on the Transnistrian settlement prospects, discussed at the international conference“Transnistrian settlement – quo vadis?”, organized in Chisinau by the Moldovan Foreign Policy Association. The last period was marked by several important events for Moldova: During a three-day visit to the headquarters of the EU institutions, the Prime Minister Pavel Filip has met in Brussels with the European Council President Donald Tusk. According to a press release of the government, Tusk told Filip that the EU will be on Moldova’s side as long as Chisinau will go ahead with the reforms. The Parliament has approved the draft law on the opening of the NATO Liaison Office in Chisinau, submitted by President Nicolae Timofti, after Prime Minister Pavel Filip and the NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, had signed in Brussels an agreement in this sense. The draft law on opening the NATO office in Chisinau was supported by 59 MPs of the parliamentary majority and PLDM faction, while the MPs of the communist and socialist opposition objected to the law saying it’s unconstitutional. President-elect Igor Dodon believes that“at the moment, for the first time in the last 20 years, there is a historic opportunity to solve the Transnistrian problem”.“I think both Russia and the West need good examples. I think it would not be bad to show everyone how frozen conflicts can be resolved. I think Transnistria can be such an example,” said Dodon in an interview to the Russian Interfax news agency, underlining that in January he could go to Tiraspol to meet with the new Transnistrian leader who will be elected on December 11 th . The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, has expressed his support for the negotiations in the“5+2” format over the Transnistrian conflict settlement. Speaking at the OSCE ministerial meeting in Hamburg, Lavrov was confident that next year progress will be made on the Transnistrian issue, since the presidential elections on the two banks of the river will be over. The Tiraspol Central Election Commission has officially announced the victory of Vadim Krasnoselskii in the so-called presidential elections that took place in the breakaway region of Transnistria. Vadim Krasnoselskii got 62.3 percent of votes, while the current Tiraspol leader, Yevgeny Shevchuk,- only 27.38 percent. With Krasnoselskii’s victory, the Obnovlenie Patry which is supported by the Sheriff company and has the majority in the Supreme Soviet,(local legislature) is now controlling all power in the breakaway region. The future OSCE representative for Transnistria, Wolf Dietrich Heim, said Friday, December 9 th , at the OSCE meeting in Hamburg, he wants to pay an official visit to Moldova in the second half of January 2017 in order to discuss in details the organizational aspects and activities related to his mandate. According to a press release of the Bureau for Reintegration, the Vice Minister of Reintegration, Gheorghe Balan, has met Heim in Hamburg. Transnistrian Settlement – quo vadis? International conference in Chisinau Officials, participants in the “5+2” negotiations format, local and international experts have discussed about the Transnistrian settlement prospects at the international conference organized by the Moldovan Foreign Policy Association with the support of the Black Sea Trust. Monthly Bulletin, Nr. 11(129), December 2016 64, Sciusev str. MD-2012, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova, Tel-Fax:+373 22 21 09 86 Website: www.ape.md E-mail: office@ape.md