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 MARCH 2021 NR.3(181) Synthesis and Foreign Policy Debates The newsletter is developed by Mădălin Necșuțu, editor-coordinator TOPICS OF THE EDITION: 1. Stela Jantuan, political analyst: “The solution is very simple, and this is triggering early parliamentary elections” 2. Cornel Ciurea, political analyst, University professor: “I think that no political force in the current conditions can afford to raise the tensions even higher” 3. Nicolae Osmochescu, university professor and former judge with the Constitutional Court: “If Igor Grosu is not voted, the Parliament could be dissolved, and after 90 days early parliamentary elections could be organized” 4. Editorial by Madalin Necsutu, Balkan Insight correspondent, and G4Media to Chisinau: “Republic of Moldova, gripped by the pandemic and early elections” 5. Expert Opinion. Ion Tăbârță: “After more than 25 years of constitutional development, the Moldovan political system has reached an institutional deadlock” News in Brief President Maia Sandu announced on his Facebook account that on Friday, March 19th, the first batch of vaccines from the almost 100,000 promised doses will arrive in the Republic of Moldova by the end of March. These are offered by Romania and the EU either bilaterally or through the international COVAX platform.“Another batch of vaccines is coming today. In total, by the end of March, 46,000 doses of vaccine will arrive in the Republic of Moldova through the COVAX platform and another 50,000 from the donation offered by Romania. We thank once again the donors of COVAX and Romania for their support and solidarity in these difficult times for all”, wrote Maia Sandu on her Facebook account. The President also announced that she had asked the Ministry of Health to prepare the process of distributing the vaccine to the vaccination centres as efficiently as possible in order to ensure the increase in the number of vaccinated people per day. The batch sent on Friday included 24,570 doses of Pfizer serum via COVAX. Russia’s Foreign Ministry has accused the USA and the EU of meddling in Moldova’s“internal affairs”.“In the best traditions of American missionaries, he(Dereck Hogan-n.r.) posted on the embassy’s website a sermon on democracy, pandemic, corrupt politicians and oligarchs, economic difficulties and the political crisis in the Republic of Moldova. The solution to get out of this situation, according to the ambassador, can be“courage and adherence to democratic principles”, demonstrated already by the voters in Moldova and abroad in the last presidential election, offering“another historic step in the democratic development” of the country, wrote the Russian MFA in a statement issued on March 17th. The reaction comes after the American ambassador to Chisinau, Dereck Hogan, published on the anticoruptie.md website an editorial in which he reaffirms the support for the creation of a democratic framework in the Republic of Moldova led by leaders without criminal problems. On March 16th, the President of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu, appointed Igor Grosu, the leader of her former political party, the Action and Solidarity Party(PAS), as prime minister. This is the second nomination for the position of prime minister made by Maia Sandu, after last month she appointed Natalia Gavrilita, who did not receive the confidence vote of the deputies from the Chisinau Parliament. Maia Sandu made this appointment because there was no candidate to be supported by a formalized parliamentary majority, she told a news conference after consultations with the parliamentary groups. The Socialist Party reacted and nominated Moldova’s ambassador to Russia, Vladimir Golovatiuc, as prime minister, after Mariana Durleșteanu had announced on the day of the Sandu-Dodon negotiations that she was resigning. Starting from his official nomination, Grosu has 15 days to form the government and develop the governing programme based on which he will ask for the confidence vote in the Parliament. Republic of Moldova, gripped by the pandemic and early elections Mădălin Necșuțu One year after the official start of the pandemic, the Republic of Moldova has faced convulsions not only in the health sector, but also on the political scene. The presidential election has turned the health crisis into a secondary issue. The authorities have functioned more in an election campaign logic in which they have constantly counted and measured their political rating, while the concern for the people was extremely low. This has been noticed with the partial elections in the Hincesti constituency, when Monthly newsletter, No.3(181), March 2021 111 Bucuresti St., Chisinau, MD-2012, Republic of Moldova, Tel.+373 855830 Website: fes-moldova.org. E-mail:fes@fes-moldova.org