Visegrad Group, Moldova to develop joint action plan on EU integration

Chisinau, 6 March /MOLDPRES/ - Deputy Foreign and European Integration Minister Iulian Groza today met the deputy foreign ministers of the Visegrad (V4) Group countries. The delegation includes Czech Deputy Foreign Minister Ivo Sramek, Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Konrad Pawlik, Slovak Deputy Foreign Minister Peter Burian, and Hungarian Deputy Foreign Minister Istvan Mikola, the Foreign and European Integration Ministry’s information and media communication service has reported.

An important topic on the agenda was the Moldova-EU Association Council starting on 16 March 2015. The event will record a first assessment of the implementation of the Moldova-EU Association Agreement and will establish priority areas in which Moldova needs EU assistance. Iulian Groza said that Moldova further relied on the support of the four countries - both in the V4 format, and on the bilateral level, especially for attracting investment and expanding Moldovan products exports to the EU market.

The Chisinau-based authorities also expressed the intention to fully turn into account the opportunities offered by the Eastern Partnership Summit in Riga in May this year. "We want to receive a reconfirmation for Moldova's European aspirations and be provided an outlook on the European perspective during the Summit in Riga", said Deputy Minister Iulian Groza.

For their part, the European officials welcomed the commitment of the Moldovan authorities to pursue the ambitious reform programme and reiterated their readiness to further assist the country in key areas such as the justice reform, combating corruption and energy security.

Furthermore, the sides discussed the importance of deepening dialogue with the Transnistrian region, for all Moldovan citizens to benefit from the implementation of the provisions of the Free Trade Area between Moldova and the European Union.

The representative of the Presidency of the V4 Group, Slovak Deputy Foreign Minister Peter Burian proposed developing a joint action plan to support Moldova's European course. The plan will include concrete development and assistance actions from the V4 Group for Moldova to help implement the objectives of the Moldova-EU Association Agreement.

(Editor M. Jantovan)