2021: Time to upgrade US – Moldova relations

14 January 2021

Considering the start of a new political cycle both in Washington and Chisinau, time is ripe for a major upgrade in US-Moldova relations.

An upgraded US-Moldova partnership could rely on even stronger US support for the rule of law and anti-corruption efforts: the fight against money laundering, investigations of financial crimes, recovery of stolen assets, increase the efficiency and reform of the justice sector.

The US and Moldova should deepen their cooperation in the field of security by seeking ways to intensify institutional partnerships between their respective security sectors on several policy fronts such as cyber security, defense cooperation and intelligence matters. Continued support for civil society and independent media, not least through medium and long-term institutional funding, will play a key role in defining the extent of success of reforms in the following years. Should Moldovan authorities be able to pursue several years of sustained anti-corruption reforms it is important for both parties to look into ways to open the possibility for Moldova to benefit from a second Millennium Challenge Corporation program.

However, all of the above will only be sustainable if Moldova also plays its part in the bilateral partnership with the US.It is in the national interest of Moldova to pursue this opening. Moldovan authorities need to develop a national action plan that would detail the main expectations, directions of cooperation that it wants to pursue with the US, how it intends to pursue them, and the support it would require to do so. This could help the country rebuild itself as a success story of anti-corruption for the entire region.

Please check for more details the Policy Brief published by the Institute for European Policies and Reforms (IPRE).

This policy brief was developed in the framework of the project „Policy bridges with the EU: Securing the Europeanisation process of the Republic of Moldova” implemented with the support of the Soros Foundation Moldova. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors alone.

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