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 JANUARY 2021 NR.1(179) Synthesis and Foreign Policy Debates The newsletter is developed by Mădălin Necșuțu, editor-coordinator TOPICS OF THE EDITION: 1. Cristina Gherasimov, foreign policy advisor to President Maia Sandu: “Moldova’s foreign policy in upcoming years should help protect and promote the interests of its citizens” 2. Editorial by Madalin Necsutu, journalist, contributor to the Balkan Insight: “How Maia Sandu thawed the relations with the neighbours and the West” 3. Marko Shevchenko, Ambassador of Ukraine to the Republic of Moldova: “ Ukraine and Moldova are a part of the European family, so nobody can reasonably question their European aspirations” 4. Expert Opinion. Natalia Stercul: “New Window of Opportunity for the Moldovan-Ukrainian Dialogue: Right Time to Act” News in Brief Moldova will receive the first batches of COVID-19 vaccine starting with mid-February 2021. Chisinau will receive 24,570 doses of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine(Comirnaty) and 264,000 doses produced by Oxford /AstraZeneca. The vaccine produced by Oxford/AstraZeneca will be delivered to Moldova in installments, starting with the end of February, for the first and second quarters. The COVAX platform is one of three pillars of access to the COVID-19(ACT) Accelerator(Diagnosis, Treatment and Vaccines) tools, which was launched in April by the WHO, the European Commission and France in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. COVAX has received applications for the supply of COVID-19 vaccine from 72 countries. In the first stage, only 18 countries were selected, including Republic of Moldova, which will receive free doses of COVAX to vaccinate 20 per cent of the population. Subsequently, Moldova will procure vaccines through COVAX at a preferential price. Republic of Moldova joined COVAX in August 2020, through a letter of intent signed by the Ministry of Health. The application for the COVID-19 vaccine was sent on December 7th. Romania offers emergency humanitarian aid to the Republic of Moldova to fight the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The aid, which consists of medical protection equipment, totalling about 48 million lei, will arrive in Chisinau in the coming days. The first batch of aid provided by the Bucharest Government, totalling 2.2 million Euros, arrived on February 11 and ended on February 13.“The Romanian government has decided to provide emergency external humanitarian aid free of charge to the Moldovan authorities. The Romanian delegation participating in the mission will be made up of the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations, of eight people”, announced the Prime Minister of Romania, Florin Citu. In the first phase, humanitarian aid will consist of medical protective equipment: 1.5 million surgical masks, 100,000 FFP3 masks, 100,000 medical suits and 100,000 non-sterile gloves. President Maia Sandu assured, after the visit to Brussels on January 17-19, that it would be possible to unblock the EU funding after the future early elections.“The EU has a huge potential for assistance to Moldova, which has been missed in recent years due to the fact that the country's leadership has included people who pursue personal, corrupt interests, not the interests of citizens. The EU wants to help us, but it wants to see a reliable partner. Therefore, our task is to organize the work in the country, we must have a stable and responsible leadership. When this happens, the EU will unblock all funding to our country,” Sandu said in a press briefing after returning from Brussels. Sandu also said that snap parliamentary elections should be held in Moldova as soon as possible, and then“the responsible deputies will be able to change the laws adopted by the Socialists and the deputies of the Shor Party”, after which the country will receive the necessary funding. Diplomatic Thaw and Development Prospects of the Republic of Moldova President Maia Sandu with French counterpart Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace The meetings of the new President of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu, with the neighbours and some of the most important development partners of the country have quickly paid off. The shift in the paradigm and the thawing of relations with them have produced immediate effects, unlocking funds and new development opportunities in Moldova's relations with Romania, Ukraine, the European Union and France. The four meetings held one after the other by Maia Sandu in Chisinau, Kyiv, Brussels and Paris have brought material benefits and restored the relations between Chisinau and several traditional partners of the Republic of Moldova that had been frozen during Igor Dodon's presidential term. Maya Sandu's concentrated diplomatic campaign has rethought the relationship at the Republic of Moldova's presidential level with the counterpart institutions in the states mentioned above. On February 10, Romania announced a new concrete medical aid worth 2.2 million euros in the form of medical equipment designed to fight the coronavirus pandemic. Moreover, Bucharest and Brussels have worked together to pave the way for the Republic of Moldova to receive medical aid in these difficult times. Monthly newsletter, No.1(179), January 2021 111 Bucuresti St., Chisinau, MD-2012, Republic of Moldova, Tel.+373 855830 Website: fes-moldova.org. E-mail:fes@fes-moldova.org