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 APRIL 2019 NR.4(158) Synthesis and Foreign Policy Debates The newsletter is developed by Sorina Ştefârţă, editor-coordinator TOPICS OF THE EDITION: 1. Tatiana Molcean, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of the Republic of Moldova: ”Our goal is not to admit any legal vacuum in our further co-operation with London” 2. Editorial by Victoria Bucataru, executive director of the Foreign Policy Association: ”Brexit: a term, a phenomenon, a process...” 3. Iulian Fruntașu, former Ambassador of the Republic of Moldova to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: ”Brexit was also a method of protest- not just ideologically” 4. Expert opinion. Mihai Mogâldea: „Brexit’s stake for the Republic of Moldova: why should we carefully watch Britain’s exit process from the European Union”? News in Brief Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration of the Republic of Moldova, Iurie Leanca, participated in the Interparliamentary Conference on the Future of the European Union, which took place in Bucharest during the rotating Romania’s Presidency of the EU Council. In his speech, the Moldovan Deputy Prime Minister spoke about the benefits that the Republic of Moldova obtained as a result of its rapprochement with the EU and the signing of the Association Agreement. In particular, he emphasized the liberalization of the visa regime in April 2014 and the free trade with the EU space. So far, more than 1.5 million Moldovan citizens have benefited from the visa liberalization regime, while the trade with the EU countries has increased from 50 to 70%. At the same time, Iurie Leanca advocated a more coherent EU strategy towards the Republic of Moldova, but also towards other countries of the Eastern Partnership. The development and perspective of the joint projects have been the key topic of the discussions recently held by Prime Minister Pavel Filip and Daniel Ioniţă, Ambassador of Romania to Chisinau. Thus, among the bilateral projects of major interest were the construction of the Ungheni-Chisinau gas pipeline, the interconnection of the electric grids, the development of the infrastructure and the elimination of the roaming tariffs between the two states. In this context, Pavel Filip said that the implementation of the projects agreed by the Chişinău and Bucharest Governments, which were included in the Road Map, will further enhance the bilateral dialogue. In his turn, ES Daniel Ionita declared that Romania will continue to support the European path of the Republic of Moldova and that our country remains a strategic partner and good friend. Also in April, Pavel Filip met with a delegation of the US Congress that visited the Republic of Moldova. According to the Prime Minister, Chisinau pays special attention to bilateral relations and good cooperation with the USA. He highlighted the US support in the settlement of the Transnistrian conflict and stressed the importance of strengthening the country’s security in general, but also its energy security, the US support being valuable in this regard. In this context, Pavel Filip mentioned that this year we are marking the 20th anniversary of the Republic of Moldova-North Carolina Bilateral Partnership, which has been an example of beneficial cooperation for two decades. At present, with the support of this American state, several social and educational projects as well as projects in the field of defense, are being carried out in our country. The developments in achieving the 20 Objectives for 2020 and the launching of reflections on the future of Eastern Partnership(EaP) in the context of its tenth anniversary were the main topics addressed at the recent Eastern Partnership senior officials’ meeting. Daniela Morari, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, reviewed the progress made by our country on the four thematic topics of the EaP and reiterated Chisinau’s interest in strengthening the cooperation with the EU on the resilience and security dimension, focusing on crisis management and combating hybrid threats and disinformation. Concerning the economic sphere, she mentioned the importance of continuing the dialogue within the format of the three EU associated states on the implementation of the Free Trade Area, with its gradual expansion to such sectors as transport, energy and the digital economy. Brexit that“doesn’t concern us,” but affects us Sorina Ștefârță On April 10, in Brussels, British Prime Minister Theresa May agreed with the proposal of the 27 EU Member States in favour of a new Brexit postponement until October 2019.“The United Kingdom has another six months to find the best possible solution,” the President of the European Council Donald Tusk said in a Twitter post.“By the end of this period, Britain will also be able... to cancel Brexit altogether,” Tusk added, quoted by Le Monde . Extending the great European divorce could indeed be beneficial for everyone- and when I say this I mean neither “everyone” anti-Brexit British, who still hopes to get a second referendum; nor “everyone” pro-Brexit British, even though the British Parliament has rejected a few times the Brexit Agreement negotiated with great torment by Theresa May with Brussels...“Everyone” also means the European Union – that despite the extremely harsh tone adopted over the past few months, we Monthly Bulletin, Nr. 4(158), April 2019 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