Foreign Policy Association together with Friedrich­Ebert-Stiftung offer you a newsletter on foreign policy and European integration issues of the Republic of Moldova. The newsletter is part of the “Foreign Policy Dialogue” joint project. NEWSLETTER MONTHLY BULLETIN JUNE 2018 NR.4(146) Synthesis and Foreign Policy Debates The newsletter is developed by Sorina Ştefârţă, editor-coordinator TOPICS OF THE EDITION: 1. Ambassador Thomas Buchsbaum, Special Representative for the Eastern Partnership of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Austria: “The EU that protects”, this is our motto for the next half year 2. Igor Munteanu, Executive director, IDIS“Viitorul” . Editorial: Who do the bells of justice in the Republic of Moldova ring out for? 3. Nicu Popescu, senior researcher at the Institute of the European Union for Security Studies: ”Corruption is rapidly becoming a major security issue” 4. Opinion of Parties: Security challenges of the country- what they are and how they should be tackled News in Brief On June 22, 2018, the UN General Assembly approved the draft resolution on“Complete and unconditional withdrawal of foreign military forces from the territory of the Republic of Moldova”. The document, which de facto aims to withdraw the Russian troops from the Transnistrian region, was supported by a majority of 64 votes. 15 states voted against, including Belarus and Armenia, but also Syria, while 83 states abstained. Canada, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Czech Republic, Romania, Ukraine, Georgia, Poland, and the United Kingdom were among the co-authors. Russia has vehemently opposed, insisting even on the withdrawal of the resolution from the agenda, but its proposal was not backed by the UN member states. In a speech at the United Nations, the Moldovan Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, Tudor Ulianovschi, said the resolution is centered on the Operational Group of Russian Forces which are still stationing illegally on the territory of the Republic of Moldova, not on the peacekeeping mission. The new Ambassador of the Republic of Moldova to Washington, Cristina Balan, presented on 23 June the letters of accreditation to the President of the United States, Donald Trump . During the official ceremony at the White House, Cristina Balan mentioned the importance of the Moldova­US Strategic Dialogue for the relations between the two states, as well as the US support for regional stability and security. President Donald Trump welcomed the friendly relations between the Republic of Moldova and the United States, and reiterated the US willingness to continue to provide our country with assistance in implementing the reforms aimed at European integration and settlement of the Transnistrian conflict. The following day, the White House announced about the appointment of a new Ambassador to Chisinau. It’s about Derek J. Hogan, a career diplomat with more than 20 years of experience. Since 2017 he has been Deputy Executive Secretary of the State Department, an expert for Eastern Europe. Hogan speaks Russian and Spanish. The EU is examining the increase in export quotas for the Moldovan economic operators, said the European Trade Commissioner, Cecilia Malmstrom, at a meeting with Tudor Ulianovschi, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration. In this context, Cecilia Malmstrom stressed the need to align the national trade legislation amendments to the requirements and principles of the world trade system as laid down by the WTO, thereby reinforcing trade liberalization and implementing the best performing food security policies. The officials have addressed also the issue of sanitary and phyto­sanitary reform, and the issuance of SPS certificates to the economic agents intending to expand their exports to the EU countries. Mr Tudor Ulianovschi also advocated for the increase in export quotas on the EU market of certain agricultural products, namely apples, grapes and various animal products. At the end, Cecilia Malmstrom invited the Republic of Moldova to participate in October, in Brussels, together with Georgia and Ukraine, at the meeting of the Free Trade Area. Security of the Republic of Moldova: concrete challenges, theoretical solutions? Sorina Ștefârță June 2018 proved to be hot for the Republic of Moldova in both senses of the word. The heat passed into torrential rain that destroyed hundreds of hectares of agricultural crops. As to the political heat, it seems not to have still reached its peak. Chisinau is again gripped by protests. Chisinau is becoming again a story, one less successful this time. On the contrary, it is as if it was brought out of the Grimm brothers’ grim pages... And we are being bombed with«worries and concerns» from the highest level- both in Brussels and Washington. And we are reminded, as diplomatically as possible, about the fact that democracy is sacred and that the elections are the ultimate manifestation of this value. This is as a result of the invalidation of the mayoral elections in Chisinau. Because of the Facebook-that is, because on June 3 rd , during the second round of elections, the candidate of the«Dignity and Truth» Platform, who won the elections, called on the citizens in a Facebook live to vote. The fact that the internet can influence our electoral option has already become an evidence. The fact that the Internet can tilt the scales for entire nations has not been proven yet by the United States, neither France nor Britain, although in all these countries there is, as the lawyers say,«a reasonable suspicion» in the given sense. It is true that in Moldova there is also a«reasonable suspicion», but in our case it refers to the magistrates. For a simple reason- the total lack of confidence of people in their independence and, therefore, in the impartiality of justice. And not just in terms of number of views. What does the above­mentioned story have in common with the current edition of the newsletter? People’s mistrust that in courts- whatever they may be­justice is done in accordance with the law, not with the thickness of the wallet of one of the parties, or with the instructions received from the highest party bureaus, is a major insecurity component faced by a state. On these and other security challenges faced by the Republic of Moldova, we are inviting you to read further. Monthly Bulletin, Nr. 4(146), June 2018 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