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 SEPTEMBER 2022 NR.9(199) Synthesis and Foreign Policy NTheewnselewttselre-tutel resistedreevaelliozpaetddebyMMădăădlăinlinNNeceșcușțuuț,ur,eeddaitcotor-rc-ocooordrdinoantaotror Debates TOPICS OF THE EDITION: 1. Adrian Băluțel, PAS deputy: “We are doing our homework and moving forward with the reforms to bring the standards closer to the European requirements” 2. Editorial, Lina Grâu, journalist: “We have no other historical development option than European integration” 3. Ion Tăbârță, political expert: “We should understand that crisis situations bring also opportunities” 4. Expert opinion, Dionis Cenusa, political analyst: “European Political Community – the new pan-European“club” against Eurasian-type authoritarianism” News in Brief Moldovan diplomacy stated on September 29 that the Republic of Moldova strongly condemns the so-called plebiscites illegally organized by the Russian Federation in the Ukrainian occupied regions of Kherson, Zaporizhia, Donetsk and Luhansk, which constitute a flagrant violation of the fundamental principles of international law.“The Republic of Moldova does not recognize the results of these illegal actions and reiterates its consistent support for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders,” the statement of the foreign office reads. Also, President Maia Sandu declared that the so-called referenda organized by Russia to annex four regions of Ukraine are fake.“We do not recognize either the referenda or the results of these referenda. We respect as before the territorial integrity of Ukraine within the internationally recognized borders”, said the head of state. Moldovans who also hold Russian citizenship could lose their Moldovan citizenship if they join the Russian army to fight in the war in Ukraine, and those who only have Moldovan citizenship risk harsher sanctions for being mercenaries. The announcement was made by the president Maia Sandu, following the meeting of the Supreme Security Council(CSS). Meeting on Saturday, September 24, the CSS discussed the changes that may occur in the region and in the Republic of Moldova after the statements of the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, regarding the partial military mobilization, the so-called referendums organized in the four Ukrainian territories controlled by Moscow and the use of nuclear weapons. Also, the punishment could be toughened for those who have exclusive citizenship of the Republic of Moldova and choose to fight in Ukraine on the side of Russia. The government will specify in November how much it will compensate for the increased bills for gas, electricity and heat, the Minister of Labour and Social Protection, Marcel Spătari, announced on Wednesday, September 21. Household consumers are to be grouped into four categories of“energy vulnerability”, from very high to low. The information system that will allow the accumulation of the data needed to fit into one of these categories should become functional at the beginning of October. According to the minister, the registration of consumers in the information system will take maximum five minutes and will be done individually on the compensatii.gov.md online platform or with the help of social workers and librarians. In the application for the registration in the information system, consumers will have to include, among other things, personal data and the average monthly income obtained in the last three months. The vulnerability category will be estimated automatically. The‘Macron- Von der Leyen Plan’ and its implications for Moldova’s accession to the EU President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, together with the French president Emmanuel Macron The European Political Community project launched by France in May and supported in September by the European Commission raises a series of question marks for the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine, Georgia, but also the countries of the Western Balkans, which are knocking at the doors of the European Union in this context of war in the eastern vicinity of the Union. The plans of the Europeans are rather vague about how this idea will unfold and whether the final result would be the European integration of these states based on the previously known model or a deepening of their relationship with Brussels, a kind of Eastern Partnership 2.0 or maybe another variant. Nothing is clear, which is why both Chisinau and Kyiv are waiting for more clarity. In the states that want to join the EU, there are fears that, by forming the Community, the membership could be postponed indefinitely. The latest speech on this topic by the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, did not provide the answers that the capitals in the Eastern neighbourhood and Monthly newsletter, No.9(199), September 2022 111 Bucuresti St., Chisinau, MD-2012, Republic of Moldova, Tel.+373 855830 Website: fes-moldova.org. E-mail:fes@fes-moldova.org