Moldovan prime minister speaks about results of his visit to USA

Chisinau, 5 October /MOLDPRES/ - Prime Minister Valeriu Strelet and Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign and European Integration Minister Natalia Gherman held a joint briefing where they talked about the visit of the Moldovan delegation to the United States of America between 28 September and 1 October, occasioned by the 70th anniversary session of the General Assembly of the United Nations, but also about the meetings and talks with high-ranking officials, the government’s communication and media relations department has reported.

A key moment of this session was conveying the national discourse on behalf of Moldova. Prime Minister Valeriu Strelet addressed more issues in his speech, such as the implementation of the EU-Moldova Association Agreement, promoting sustainable development objectives, risk of damaging the system of security and cooperation in Europe, with the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, and the armed conflict in the eastern regions of Ukraine. Speaking about the Transnistrian conflict settlement, the prime minister advocated resolving this issue by identifying a special status for this territory, respecting the integrity and sovereignty of Moldova.

During his visit to the United States, Valeriu Strelet had a meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, during which the Moldovan official appreciated the important role of UN agencies and assistance programmes for the development of Moldova, as well as in the confidence-building process in the Transnistrian conflict settlement.

At the same time, the prime minister had bilateral meetings with the presidents of Romania, Bulgaria, Lithuania and the prime ministers of Georgia, Sweden, and other senior officials of the US government institutions. In this context, Valeriu Strelet mentioned, in particular, his discussion with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis. The two officials pointed to key areas of cooperation between the two countries, especially in the fields of energy and trade, as well as the prospect of turning into account the repayable assistance offered to Moldova by Romania.

As for the meeting of the Moldovan delegation with Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland, Valeriu Strelet said that during the talks a thorough exchange of views took place on how to best overcome the challenges Moldova was facing, the actions planned by the Moldovan authorities in such areas such as restoration of relations with development partners, with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), strengthening the financial and banking system, justice reform, fight against corruption, energy security of the country, and support that could be granted by the US in the rapid promotion of the necessary reforms.

In order to strengthen the cooperation between Moldova and the USA in the field of energy, Valeriu Strelet met with State's Special Envoy for International Energy Affairs Amos J. Hochstein, as well as representatives of a consortium of companies active in the field of energy. The officials discussed about strengthening Moldova’s energy independence and diversification of electricity and natural gas sources.

Another particularly important moment was the meeting with IMF Deputy Managing Director Mitsuhiro Furusawa and other decision-makers at the headquarters of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Valeriu Strelet reiterated Moldova's commitment to promote the necessary reforms contributing to the country's financial stabilisation and re-launching effective cooperation with foreign partners. "We discussed the continuation of the dialogue in order to identify appropriate measures to be jointly undertaken in preparing the necessary conditions for Moldova to sign the agreement with the International Monetary Fund," the prime minister said at the briefing.

In the end, Prime Minister Valeriu Strelet noted that his participation in the UN General Assembly’s session and bilateral meetings with officials from other states was proof of an ongoing active political and diplomatic dialogue with the partners of Moldova internationally, as well as maintaining a support for the Chisinau-based authorities’ efforts in promoting modernisation reforms and Moldova’s European agenda.

(Editor L. Alcaza)