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 2021 NR.7(185) Synthesis and Foreign Policy Debates The newsletter is developed by Mădălin Necșuțu, editor-coordinator TOPICS OF THE EDITION: 1. Interviews with Stela Jantuan and Ion Tabarta, political experts: "The oligarchic elements will not give up so easily, they will try to adapt and regroup depending on the situation" 2. Editorial by Ludmila Nofit, Program Coordinator Association for Foreign Policy: "The Republic of Moldova has a new and probably last historical chance. The main challenges and immediate priorities of the government" 3. Interview with Vladimir Bolea, PAS vice-president: "We are realistic and take the victory of July 11 as a huge responsibility" 4. Interview with Ana Mihailov, Director of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation Moldova: "For the first time people voted for urgent changes in society, leaving aside geopolitics" News in Brief: The new Parliament met on Monday, July 26, at its first sitting after the early parliamentary elections that took place on July 11. After the legal constitution of the Parliament, the speaker and vice-speakers of the Parliament are elected and the Permanent Bureau of the Parliament is established. Within 10 days since the first sitting, the parliamentary factions are set up, which operate on the basis of their own rules of procedures. The Parliament is considered legally constituted from the date of the first sitting of the Legislature. According to the results of the early parliamentary election from July 11, the PAS will have 63 seats, the Bloc of Communists and Socialists- 32 seats, and the Shor Party 6 seats in the new Parliament. PAS, which has a majority in parliament, has announced the formation of the new government as soon as possible. President Maia Sandu warned in her message in Parliament that the problems are many and complex and that there is no time to waste. She expressed hope that the new Parliament will be able to quickly regain the trust of citizens in this important institution through fair and courageous decisions, which will stop corruption and improve the living conditions of the Moldovan citizens. The USA has appointed a new ambassador to Chisinau in the person of diplomat Kent Doyle Logsdon. He will replace Dereck J. Hogan. Kent Doyle Logsdon is a member of the senior US diplomatic corps holding the rank of Minister-Counsellor and is Chief of Staff to the Undersecretary for Growth, Energy and Environment. Previously, Logsdon served as Deputy Secretary of State for the Energy Resources Office, Deputy Head of Mission at the US Embassy in Berlin, Germany, and Chargé d’Affaires, from January 2017 to May 2018. Logsdon worked previously also in Kiev, Ukraine, Bangkok, Thailand, Alma Ata, Kazakhstan, Islamabad, Pakistan, and Stuttgart, Germany. He holds a master’s degree from the University of Virginia and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame. He is recipient of a presidential award for meritorious services and is fluent in four foreign languages: Russian, Ukrainian, Thai and German. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bogdan Aurescu, declared on Friday, during a press conference in Chisinau held together with the President of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu, that Romania will not only continue the support for the Republic of Moldova, but it also accelerate this aid.“Romania’s support for the Republic of Moldova will be manifested in all areas. We have the availability to do this”, said Aurescu. He spoke about the implementation of several projects related to energy and infrastructure. In her turn, the President Maia Sandu has stated that she appreciates highly the availability of support from the authorities in Bucharest.“We have the opportunity to build a strong and mutually beneficial partnership, based on a sincere dialogue that will open opportunities for development and bring us even closer,” said President Maia Sandu, who thanked Romania for its support to the Republic of Moldova. PAS and Maia Sandu, face to face with success and responsibility for reforms The hardships are just beginning for the Action and Solidarity Party(PAS) voted by the Moldovan citizens to deliver the reform agenda of President Maia Sandu. The victory is a historic one for the pro-European forces in the thirty years of Moldova’s existence as a state, after the declaration of independence from the defunct Soviet Union. PAS has marched in the parliamentary elections and got 52.80 percent of the one and a half million votes cast, of which about 212,000 in the diaspora. Transposed in seats the score means 63 out of 101 deputy seats in the Parliament. The remaining 32 seats were obtained by the Electoral Bloc of Communists and Socialists(BeCS), and 6 seats by the Shor Party led by the fugitive oligarch with the same name. The result is remarkable given that this has been for the first in the history of the Republic of Moldova for a pro-European centre­right party to obtain such a high score and such a comfortable majority in the Chisinau Legislature. At the same time, this is a scathing defeat for the pro-Russian left-wing political forces in Chisinau and, in extenso, a blow to Russia’s influence and direct interests in Moldova. PAS will face a number of major challenges. The party has to pass the maturity test and show that it is a stable party with a compact vision, a partner of Monthly newsletter, No.7(185), July 2021 111 Bucuresti St., Chisinau, MD-2012, Republic of Moldova, Tel.+373 855830 Website: fes-moldova.org. E-mail:fes@fes-moldova.org