In time, the Republic of Moldova built the reputation of an unsafe and inconsistent foreign partner. The statements and facts often didn’t coincide, while the internal players manipulated the foreign policy for political or even personal goals. The internal political turbulence and lack of a consistent reform path can definitely explain the lack of balance in the foreign relations and the non-achievement of the related key objectives. But after a new Government is formed, the presidential administration, Government and Parliament should work together to review and update the national strategic objectives of Moldova’s foreign and security policy. Meanwhile, given the multiple crises faced by the Republic of Moldova - epidemiological, economic, political and institutional - the country’s foreign policy can only adjust and deal with these constraints, says an analytical note presented by the Institute for European Policies and Reforms (IPRE), IPN reports.
“During many years, the foreign policy of the Republic of Moldova has been guided by the European integration objective. Nevertheless, the consistency of this pro-European policy suffered because of the high-level corruption, anti-European domestic policy practices and, sometimes, the attacks on the part of influential political players. Moreover, the bank fraud revealed systemic corruption problems and considerably reduced the big expectations of the citizens,” said IPRE executive director Iulian Groza.
Snap parliamentary elections will be held and a new Government will be most probably invested in autumn. This will be an opportunity for the responsible national authorities – the presidential administration, Government and Parliament – to cooperate so as to review and update the national foreign and security policy objectives, especially because the foreign policy concept of the Republic of Moldova was adopted in 1995 and should be adjusted. “The 30 years of Independence offer us the opportunity of updating the foreign policy of the Republic of Moldova,” stated Iulian Groza.
Co-author of the analytical note Nicu Popescu, director of the Wider Europe Program at ECFR (Paris), said the Republic of Moldova faces a number of crises and three of them are immediate, namely the COVID-19 crisis, the crisis related to the economic consequences of this pandemic and the political crisis that took a new shape in the context of the snap elections. The pandemic wave revealed serious systemic problems in Moldova’s health system. The mortality rate has been high, while the country’s capacity to cope with this pandemic remains limited. The access to vaccines was also limited and is based primarily on foreign support. The provision of a sufficient quantity of vaccines in Moldova remains now the major challenge.
According to the study, the economic repercussions of the COVID-19 crisis and the possible delays in the vaccination process have significant negative effects on the country’s economy. In the second half of this year, Moldova’s access to foreign assistances can improve, but the mobilization of foreign assistance in alleviating the pandemic’s negative effects on the health system and the economy will most probably necessitate significant efforts related to the state’s foreign policy.
The event was held as part of the IPRE project “Policy Bridges with the EU: Securing Europeanization process of the Republic of Moldova”, which is implemented with support from the Soros Foundation Moldova. Natalia Camburian, director of the Soros Foundation’s Good Governance Program, said that everyone heard the messages calling for solidity in connection with the pandemic and this call crossed state borders, while international cooperation turned out to be absolutely vital for controlling the pandemic. “The importance of foreign policy on the agenda of many states increased significantly. I’m glad that the Republic of Moldova is among them. A well-thought-out, coherent and consistent foreign policy with clear objectives will definitely increase the Republic of Moldova’s externals credibility and the opportunities of international cooperation, not only in the fight against the pandemic, but also those that refer to the country’s economic interests, security and promotion and protection of democratic processes,” stated Natalia Camburian.
