The Foreign Policy Association of Moldova, Asociatia pentru Politica Externa (APE) is Moldova’s leading foreign policy think-tank, committed to supporting Moldova’s Europeanization, integration into the European Union and a viable settlement of the Transnistrian conflict. It was established in fall 2003 by a group of well-known experts, public personalities and former senior officials and diplomats reunited by their commitment to contribute their expertise and experience to a comprehensive analysis of Moldova’s foreign policy options and formulation of an efficient foreign policy.

As an independent, non-partisan, and non-profit organization, the APE aims to:

• improve the quality of the foreign policy debates in Moldova;
• provide a platform for informed discussions and analysis on foreign policy issues;
• strengthen the foreign policy experts’ community in Moldova;
• foster better interraction between non-governamental experts and decision makers;
• interpret Moldova for a broader international audience and interpret the international processes for Moldovan public,
• provide interested officials and diplomats, as well as the wider public, an independent high-quality assessment on the most topical issues of Moldova’s foreign policy and international processes affecting Moldova’s interests;
• promote a better understanding by Moldovan public of various aspects of Moldovan foreign policy options and ways of achieving its goals on the international scene;
• stimulate citizens’ interest in the area of foreign policy and better understanding of various aspects of European affairs and international relations.

To these ends the APE and its staff:

• organise foreign policy-focused events (conferences, round tables, seminars, public discussions, summer schools, study trips, etc.);
• arrange public lectures and visits by international experts and scholars;
• participate in international conferences, regional think-tank initiatives and networks;
• publishe studies, analyses and commentaries;
• conduct policy-oriented research;
• make regular commentaries in the media;
• disseminate the by-weekly Digest Panorama (in Romanian) and the Transnistrian Digest (in English/Russian)
• prepare and broadcast a weekly analytical Radio programme on Moldova’s foreign policy “Dezbateri si Sinteze de Politica Externa” (in Romanian);
• maintain the web site www.ape.md as a valuable information resource for all those interested in Moldova’s foreign policy.

The founding members of the Association and members of its Board of Directors are:

• President                      Ion Sturza, Deputy CEO of the Rompetrol Group and former Prime-minister of Moldova
• Vice-President              Amb. Iurie Leancă, former First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Dr. Arcadie Barbaroşie, Executive Director of the Institute for Public Policy (IPP)
• Igor Boţan, Executive Director of the Association for Participative Democracy (ADEPT)
• Amb. Nicolae Chirtoacă*, Ambassador of Moldova to the United States, ex-Executive Director of the Euro-Atlantic Center and Invisible College of Moldova
• Valeriu Gheorghiu*, Minister-Counselor of the Moldova’s Mission to the European Union, former Program Director at the IPP and ex-Director at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• Ştefan Gorda, Ascom Group’s Vice President and former Director at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• Vasile Nedelciuc, Chairman of the Endava Co and ex-Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Parliament (1990-1993, 1998-2001)
• Dr. Oleg Serebrian, Member of the Parliament, President of the European Movement of Moldova and former senior diplomat
• Amb. Anatol Ţăranu, Member of the Parliament, Director of the Institute for Security and Military Studies, ex-Ambassador to Russia.

* suspended their membership in the Board for the duration of their diplomatic assignments in Washington, D.C. and Brussels.

The APE’s staff consists of:

• Executive Director             Andrei Popov, former Head of the International Security Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and diplomat at the Moldova’s Embassy to the United States
• Programs Director             Victor Chirilă, former Deputy Head of Foreign Ministry’s Departments and ex-Counselor at the Modova’s Embassy to the United States
• Programs Director             Eugen Revenco, former Head of the International Law and Treaties Department of the Foreign Ministry and Counselor at the Moldova’s Mission to Geneva
• Programs Coordinator        Radu Vrabie
• Project Assistant            Victoria Boian
• Senior Expert                    Vlad Kulminsky
• Accountant                       Raisa Moroşanu
• IT Counsultant                  Ghenadie Iepure