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 2024 NR. 3(217) Synthesis and Foreign Policy Debates NTheewnselewttselre-tutel resistedreevaelliozpaet ddebyMMădăădlăinlinNNeceșcușțuuț,ur,eeddaitcotor-rc-ocooordrdinoantaotror TOPICS OF THE EDITION: 1. Nerijus Maliukevicius, Lithuanian expert in international relations and combating disinformation: New media, artificial intelligence, and social networks are also used as toolboxes for malign information operations 2. Editorial by Denis Cenusa, associate expert with the Lithuanian Centre for East European Studies and Expert-Group: Russian narratives and anti-disinformation resilience in Moldova 3. Collective interview with experts from the Republic of Moldova, Romania, Ukraine: It is not difficult to identify the targets of disinformation: in 2024, President Maia Sandu will be one of the main targets 4. Analysis by Madalin Necsutu, journalist with Balkan Insight: New media and Russia’s informational war against Moldova before the presidential elections News in Brief Moldovan carriers of goods will circulate freely in the European Union without authorization at least until December 2025. The Minister of Infrastructure and Regional Development, Andrei Spînu, signed on March 26 the extension of the Agreement between the EU and Moldova regarding the road transport of goods together with the Director for Land Transport at the European Commission, Kristian Schmidt. Since 2023, the goods transport services from Moldova to the EU and vice versa have increased by 15%, while exports of goods to EU member states increased from 530.8 million dollars in July-September 2022 to 675.1 million dollars in the same period from 2023. According to Spînu, the extension of the agreement means that we will no longer need special authorizations in the EU, import and export to the EU will increase, the Republic of Moldova will become Ukraine’s partner in the process of rebuilding the country, and the chains will be simpler and the logistics more efficient. On March 26, the Constitutional Court admitted the referral of the deputies of the former“Sor” Party and declared as unconstitutional the provisions of the Electoral Code that forbid people affiliated with Ilan Şor to run for election. On October 4, 2023, the Parliament voted in the final reading to amend the Electoral Code. According to the document, the people who, on the date of the ruling of the Constitutional Court regarding the declaration of the unconstitutionality of a political party, were members of the executive body or held elective positions on behalf of the respective party, will not be able to be elected in electoral polls. The restriction was to be applied for a period of three years from the date of the Constitutional Court ruling regarding the declaration of the unconstitutionality of the political party. The Republic of Moldova and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development(EBRD) signed, on March 13, a loan agreement worth 30.8 million euros for the construction of the Bălți-Suceava high voltage line, which will interconnect the Republic of Moldova and Romania energetically. In addition to the new Bălți-Suceava overhead power line, an electrical station with a capacity of 400 kV will be built in Bălți. Part of the money will be used for the rehabilitation of some segments of the electric transmission networks on the territory of the Republic of Moldova. For example, transformers in power stations will be replaced. This loan will cover 40% of the total project amount of 77 million euros. A credit of 30.8 million euros will be granted by the European Investment Bank, while 15.4 million euros by the European Union, as a grant. New media and Russia’s informational war against Moldova before the presidential elections Președinta Maia Sandu, alături de șefa Comisiei Europene, Ursula von der Leyen, în cadrul unei întâlniri la Chișinău. Sursa-foto: Președinția Republicii Moldova Russia’s disinformation operations in the Republic of Moldova will increase this year amid the Kremlin’s desire to do everything in its power to derail Chisinau from the European axis. This year is a crucial one for Moldova, which will open the negotiations on accession chapters with the EU and will have, at the same time, this autumn, presidential elections and, most likely, a referendum on European integration. Moscow will massively throw all its disinformation weapons into the fray and provide considerable sums through its proxy actors, as well as directly, to achieve its objective. Artificial intelligence will be one of the methods that will be mainly used. As such, the most targeted person of the smear campaign will be the president Maia Sandu, seen image wise as the main pro-European vector from Chisinau. The decrease in Maia Sandu’s popularity also automatically affects the pro-European ruling party in the perspective of the parliamentary elections that will take place in July 2025, in which it is Monthly newsletter, No.3(217), March 2024 111 Bucuresti St., Chisinau, MD-2012, Republic of Moldova, Tel.+373 855830 Website: moldova.fes.de. 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