The Eastern Partnership Summit in Warsaw was a success even if many people in Chisinau, politicians and representatives of civil society, expected that it would offer a clear prospect of European integration, said the executive director of the Foreign Policy Association (APE) Victor Chirila. “It was a legitimate expectation of many of us, but I think we should take into account the regional and internal context in order to analyze how realistic this expectation is and if it was to be met at the summit,” Victor Chirila said in a meeting of the APE’s Press Club held at Info-Prim Neo. According to Victor Chirila, the expectation of the Moldovan politicians was rather a message to the foreign partners that Moldova expects more from the EU and that the economic integration is a step towards the future European political integration. The Eastern Partnership Summit represents a dialogue where the 27 leaders of the EU and the six leaders of the Eastern Partnership consult and take decisions. It is for the first time that leaders of countries from the post-Soviet area have access to such a high-level platform for discussions, said the APE executive director. Victor Chirila also said that the summit set strategic directions for the Eastern Partnership for the next two years and these directions leave the European integration dimension open for Moldova. “Over the next two years, the Eastern Partnership will focus on three priorities, namely the political association of the member states of the Eastern Partnership with the EU, the economic integration that will involve signing the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement that will represent the initiation of the process of legislative and institutional harmonization between Moldova and the EU, and the facilitation of the mobility of persons, which means the liberalization of the visa regime with the EU,” said Victor Chirila. He stressed that for the first time the declaration of the EU member states issued at the end of the summit does not make reference to the liberalization of the visa regime in a distant future, and this process will take place faster if the reforms dictated by the EU are implemented as soon as possible. Victor Chirila considers that the European integration prospect is more accessible to Moldova because the declaration lays emphasis on differentiation between the member states of the Eastern Partnership. The APE director said that the declaration does not contain references to such notions as equality of rights of the sides involved in the Transnistrian conflict, on which Transnistria and Russia insist. Recognizing this notion would mean that the reintegrated country would have a status similar to that of a confederation consisting of two equal subjects. As to the decision to resume the formal talks in the 5+2 format that was taken during the informal consultations held in Moscow on September 22, Victor Chirila said that this represents a success for the Reintegration Office of Moldova. “This decision meets our national interests and our position at the negotiations. It was possible with the effort of the Government of Moldova, which showed that it is ready for a constructive dialogue,” he stated. “For the first time a declaration in the 5+2 format is signed not only by the mediators and the sides involved, but also by the U.S. and the EU. It happened as a result of many postponements on the part of Moscow.” German independent expert Martin Sieg said he does not expect that the formal talks in the 5+2 format will provide an immediate solution. “I think it will be a long-term process that will require that Tiraspol and Chisinau come closer and solve the problems existing between them,” he said, adding that the Government must reach a consensus as regards the red lines that Moldova does not want to pass and compromises that it can make. The second Eastern Partnership Summit during the last two years was held in Warsaw on September 29-30. It was attended by a Moldovan delegation.