Moldovan parliament speaker makes statements on EU - Moldova Association Agreement ratification

Chisinau, 13 November /MOLDPRES/ - The European Parliament today ratified, by majority of votes, the Moldova-EU Association Agreement in Brussels, the parliament's communication and public relations department has reported.

Parliament Speaker Igor Corman, who attended the plenary session of the European Parliament, said that the MEPs' vote today was an important step towards the full legalisation of Moldova's political association and economic integration with the European Union.

"This is a special day for Moldova's future, the Association Agreement being the most important treaty our country ever signed. For us, the association with the EU means modernising Moldova following the European model, economic development, decent wages and pensions, fair justice, affordable healthcare, quality education, better roads as well as the Transnistrian conflict settlement through reintegration", said the parliament speaker. According to him, the European Parliament's ratification of the Association Agreement today was a phase in a much broader process of national modernisation and rapprochement with the EU.

Parliament Speaker Igor Corman expressed hope that the national parliaments of the EU member states would follow the example of the European Parliament and accelerate the procedures for ratification of the Association Agreement. Seven of the 28 member states of the European Union have so far ratified the Association Agreement: Romania, Bulgaria, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Malta and Slovakia.

MEPs backed the agreement with 535 votes in favour, 94 against and 44 abstentions.

The Association Agreement will contribute to the deepening of political relations between Moldova and the EU and, most importantly, to the country's gradual integration into the EU domestic market, the largest market in the world with over 500 million consumers. The EU recently provided grants worth about 410 million euros to support the implementation of the Association Agreement and reforms in Moldova in 2014 - 2017.