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 JULY 2019 NR.7(161) Synthesis and Foreign Policy Debates The newsletter is developed by Sorina Ştefârţă, editor-coordinator TOPICS OF THE EDITION: 1. Ion Sturza, businessman, former Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova:“ The new Government should communicate rather internally, and instead of Brussels- go to Comrat or Otaci” 2. Editorial by Marc Behrendt and Gina S. Lentine: “Moldova’s crisis offers a chance to reform a captured state” 3. Iulian Rusu, Deputy Executive Director, Institute for European Policies and Reforms: “In a politically subjugated system, there will always be a“better” offer” 4. Expert Opinion. Dionis Cenușa: “Release of the European assistance for Moldova- with or without conditionality?” News in Brief The European Commission announced on July 23 that it resumed budget support to the Republic of Moldova, allocating EUR 14.54 million to support the implementation of the EU­Moldova Free Trade Area, education and vocational training programmes, and the Action Plan for the liberalization of the visa regime. According to a statement issued by Brussels, the payments were resumed because the new Government made a number of important decisions, which prove that the conditions for the resumption of budget support are met, namely: the new Government has firmly expressed its commitment to implement the reform agenda within the Association Agreement; identified the fight against corruption as an absolute priority in its Programme of activity; re-established the relations with the IMF and reached an agreement at the technical level on the fourth and fifth revision of the economic programme supported by it; the Parliament has begun to work on a new legislative agenda, among the first decisions taken being the cancellation of the mixed electoral system and the implementation of the Venice Commission recommendations; an inquiry commission on the 2014 banking fraud was established; decisions were taken to support the depoliticization of state institutions and to fight corruption. The European Commission also mentions that the new Moldovan authorities have committed to conduct the local elections set for October 20th in a credible, transparent and inclusive manner. The current situation in the Republic of Moldova, the reform programme and the foreign policy priorities, the support for the implementation of the Association Agreement provisions and the activation of the cooperation with the European institutions, but also with the Member States- these are the topics addressed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, Nicu Popescu, in an informal discussion at the EU Foreign Affairs Council. The head of the Moldovan diplomacy informed in detail his European counterparts about the latest developments in Chisinau. Special attention was paid to efforts to counter the phenomenon of corruption, to relaunch the reform process under the Association Agreement, to unlock access to external assistance, and to foreign policy priorities. The Minister advocated the activation of cooperation with both the European institutions and the EU Member States, by invigorating the political dialogue and carrying out concrete projects. “Good relations with the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Belarus are important foreign policy goals, but we do not want integration with these states or with some post-Soviet organizations, including the Eurasian Economic Union. The only integration objective of the Republic of Moldova is the European Union”. The statement belongs to Minister Nicu Popescu and was made in an interview for the Radio Free Europe on the occasion of a visit to Moscow planned for September in order to prepare the ground for the Prime Minister Maia Sandu’s visit to the Kremlin. These will be the first contacts between the Moldovan and Russians government officials of such rank after a long break in the relations with Moscow. According to Popescu, the agenda is not finalized, but there will be discussed both the unblocking of the Moldovan agricultural exports on the Russian market and the restoration of economic ties with Moscow, without prejudice to those with the EU. Also, in September, Nicu Popescu will visit Bucharest. The stormy summer of 2019: is it or is it not for the change to happen? The first protest against the new Government: HoReCa calls for the maintenance of fiscal facilities Sorina Ștefârță We can say anything about the Chisinau summer of 2019, except that it is devoid of dynamism and inspiration. It started out in force, by radical change(at least, as it seemed then) of political power, to continue at the same rhythmical-alert pace. So for the last two months, the news more and more resemble chronicles from the battlefield... or a tennis match, where the speed is so high that you can no longer understand who beats whom... Fortunately, for now, the battles are at the level of declarations- and so we hope to stay, because the discussion characterizes the democratic societies. And yet... Prime Minister Maia Sandu is fighting with the dragon of justice, who, due to the spear-«procedure», oscillates between the posture of windmill that cannot be reached by Don Quixote sward and the Phoenix bird, who knows how to be reborn from the blackest ash. A little further down the Cathedral Park, the Ministry of Finance is fighting- without having specifically planned it- with a part(mainly the honest one) of the HoReCa sector. The Parliament that is officially on vacation has its own struggles- both in sight, between the representatives Monthly Bulletin, Nr. 7(161), July 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