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 APRIL 2024 NR. 4(218) Synthesis and Foreign Policy Debates NTheewnselewttselre-tutel resistedreevaelliozpaet ddebyMMădăădlăinlinNNeceșcușțuuț,ur,eeddaitcotor-rc-ocooordrdinoantaotror TOPICS OF THE EDITION: 1. Panel II of the Reintegration Forum: It is difficult to talk about the Transnistrian settlement without talking about peace in Ukraine 2. Panel II of the Reintegration Forum: Moscow will consider that Moldova’s accession to the EU is incompatible with the status of neutrality of Moldova on which Russia insists 3. Editorial by Mihai Isac, political analyst: The Transnistrian dilemma: how Chisinau will play the reintegration card of its eastern region News in Brief The Republic of Moldova marks 10 years since the visa regime with the European Union was liberalized. During these years, more than 2.5 million Moldovans traveled without a visa, using the biometric passport. The Institute for European Policies and Reforms(IPRE) calculated that Moldovans saved over 270 million euros. President Maia Sandu declared that“it is essential to become a member state of the European Union not only so that free movement remains guaranteed, but also peace”. She stated that“for 10 years we have been traveling freely, without visas, in the European Union” and that“Moldovans are Europeans and deserve to live freely, travel where they want, work where they want, like all European citizens.”“It is essential to become a member state of the EU, not only so that free movement remains guaranteed, but also for peace, well-being and democracy,” declared the head of state. The government reported that more than 2.5 million Moldovans benefited from the visa-free regime and made more than 30 million border crossings. The President of the Moldovan Parliament, Igor Grosu, declared on April 26, during a television show on TVR Moldova, that Russia cannot intervene militarily in the Republic of Moldova, because there is a Ukrainian army that defends the whole of Europe from the aggression of the Kremlin. However, according to the official, Russia uses propaganda and voter corruption in the Republic of Moldova to weaken citizens’ trust in state institutions. The President of the Parliament appeals to the legal authorities to intervene and put an end to the phenomenon of the introduction of dirty money into the country, and for the authors of these illegal schemes to be sanctioned according to the law. Igor Grosu is skeptical that representatives of the“So”” group could take over power in the Republic of Moldova. According to the President of the Parliament, the representatives of the new opposition block“Victoria” know that Russia’s sympathies among the politicians of the Republic of Moldova are fleeting, and former President Igor Dodon is the most eloquent example of this. The Kremlin plans to use pro-Russian actors in Gagauzia and Transnistria to destabilize and degrade Moldovan democracy and ultimately prevent Moldova from joining the EU, writes The Kyiv Post, citing a report released by the Institute for the Study of War(ISW) from the United States. According to the ISW, the Kremlin­affiliated governor of Moldova’s pro-Russian Gagauzia autonomous region, Evghenia Guțul, told the Russian news agency TASS on Friday that Moldovan authorities detained her and three of her advisers for several hours when the group arrived at Chisinau airport after a series of recent meetings in Russia and Turkey. Guțul claimed that Moldovan law enforcement inspected her luggage and detained her for an hour before releasing her, and one of Guțul’s advisers told TASS that the Moldovan authorities interrogated the three advisers for two more hours. How the Transnistrian region could be reintegrated: working scenarios and debates For the first time in the last thirty years, several working scenarios on how the breakaway Transnistrian region could be reintegrated were openly discussed in Chisinau. This happened during the Reintegration Forum, organized on April 11, in Chisinau, by the Institute for European Policies and Reforms (IPRE), the Friedrich Ebert Foundation(FES) Moldova and the Reintegration Policy Bureau, in cooperation with the Expert-Group and the Promo-LEX Association. Dominated by a Soviet­inspired technocratic regime but with capitalist habits, the small region is on the verge of collapse without consistent Russian support. The transit through Ukraine of free gas from Gazprom, in the case of which a historical debt of about 10 billion dollars has been accumulated, could disappear at the end of the year, which could suddenly short-circuit the artificial existence of this independent entity from Chisinau. The budget deficit and the continuous decline of the standard of living Monthly newsletter, No.4(218), April 2024 111 Bucuresti St., Chisinau, MD-2012, Republic of Moldova, Tel.+373 855830 Website: moldova.fes.de. E-mail: fes.moldova@fes.de