FES BRIEFING MOLDOVA Trade Union Monitor June 2022 POLITICAL, ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL FRAMEWORK POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT The Republic of Moldova entered into a new political crisis in 2021, after the Chicu Government resigned at the end of 2020, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. After the failure of two attempts to elect a new government, in spring 2021, President Maia Sandu announced the dissolution of parliament and the holding of snap elections. Several parties sought to attain power, but the main battle was between the Action and Solidarity Party(PAS), previously led by San­du, and the Electoral Bloc of Communists and Socialists (BECS). PAS won an unprecedented victory in the 11 July 2021 elec­tions, with 52.8 per cent of the votes, the best ever elector­al result scored by an electoral candidate in the history of Moldovan parliamentary elections, securing the party a clear majority in the new parliament. Two more parties also en­tered the parliament – BECS(27.17 per cent of votes) and the Shor Party(5.74 per cent of votes). It should be mentioned that it was the first time in the political history of the Repub­lic of Moldova that a pro-European party had won an abso­lute majority in parliament. The PAS victory in the parlia­mentary elections has been regarded as a reflection of Maia Sandu’s victory in the 2020 presidential elections, where she won on a platform of fighting corruption and carrying out reforms, including in justice system. The victory of the pro-European party was welcomed by the international community and development partners, who promised to support Moldova along its european integration path and with the implementation of the planned reforms. The new government elected by the PAS parliamentary ma­jority and led by Natalia Gavrilita has established several pri­ority areas, including the following: effective management of the health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic; launching anti-corruption and justice system reform; raising incomes and improving the social protection of vulnerable sections of the population; and restoring external funding. However, the achievement of these ambitions has been hin­dered by the systemic problems stemming from previous governments, as well as by the pandemic and energy crises, and the recent refugee crisis as a result of the Russian inva­sion of Ukraine. In the foreign policy arena, the Republic of Moldova has re-established and revived relations with neighbouring countries and Western partners after the Socialist and the Democratic Party governments had led the country into in­ternational isolation due to the undermining of democratic processes. During multiple international meetings attended by Moldovan officials, foreign partners have made promis­es regarding providing political and economic support, with the European Commission announcing the launch of an Economic Recovery Plan for the Republic of Moldova amounting to up to 600 m Euro. Additionally, the EU has provided Moldova with Euro 60 m to overcome the energy crisis it is facing. Moldova has also reached an agreement with the International Monetary Fund for a US Dollar 590.6 m(Euro 524 m) funding programme with a term of 40 months. Advancing the dialogue with the Russian Federation, how­ever, has represented a challenge for Moldova. The visit paid to Chisinau in August 2021 by Dmitri Kozak, the deputy head of the Kremlin administration, was followed by a ma­jor energy crisis after the gas contract with the Gazprom ex­pired and a new one had to be negotiated. A separate issue in the relationship with the Russian Federation that marked the year 2021 was the frozen conflict in Transnistria. The ne­gotiation process in the‘5+2’ format was halted, with the situation further aggravated at the end of 2021 by the ten­sions in the region after Russia deployed a large number of armed forces on the border with Ukraine. Now, five weeks since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022 (at the time of writing), Moldova’s insecurity has reached a historic high since the war on the Dniester in 1992. In re­sponse to the Moldovan request for EU membership, Trans­nistria has renewed its plea for international recognition of its independence. 1