Moldova hands over BSEC chairmanship to Romania

Chisinau, 18 June /MOLDPRES/ - The area of transport, environmental protection, fighting corruption, organised crime, tax evasion and energy sector represent the basic priorities of Romania for the period of holding the chairmanship of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organisation (BSEC).

Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu highlighted these goals at a news conference in Chisinau today; the event was occasioned by the opening of a meeting of the BSEC member states' Council of Foreign Ministers.

„For the period when we will hold the BSEC chairmanship, we established the motto of keeping stability – strengthening community, which means that we will start setting the commitments of the organisation, in order to consolidate the member states,” Aurescu said.

For her part, Acting Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign and European Integration Minister Natalia Gherman said that „increasing economic exchanges, trade development, cooperation in the transport area and making more dynamic the dialogue between BSEC and EU represented Moldova’s priorities when holding the BSEC chairmanship”.

„The process of restructuring, reform and review of BSEC has started at the initiative of Moldova and I am confident that it will continue during Romania’s chairmanship as well,” BSEC Secretary General Victor Tvircun said.

The Moldovan parliament held the chairmanship of BSEC Parliamentary Assembly for the first half of 2015.

BSEC Parliamentary Assembly, created in 1993, has 12 member states – Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Turkey, Serbia and Ukraine.

(Reporter C. Russu, Editor M. Jantovan)