Moldovan PM meets European Commission official

Chisinau, 14 July /MOLDPRES/ - Prime Minister Pavel Filip today had a meeting with Director General for Mobility and Transport at the European Commission Henrik Hololei. The discussions were focused on modernizing the transports infrastructure of Moldova and adjusting the national legislative framework to European Union’s standards, the government’s communication and media relations department has reported.    

The prime minister thanked the European official for the assistance provided in the multilateral cooperation process, including in the transports sector. At the same time, the PM stressed that the recently awarded Order of Honour represented a sign of appreciation on behalf of Moldova’s authorities for efforts made by Henrik Hololei during time. At the same time, Filip referred also to the stage of enforcement of the Association Agreement and priorities of work for the second half of this year.     

“After the signing of the European Union – Moldova Agreement on Common Aviation Area, we have had a significant rise in the number of plane tickets sold, as well as decrease in prices. This is beneficial for our economy, as it facilitates the development of related fields; yet, the most important thing is that this is for the benefit of the citizens,” the prime minister said.    

For his part, Henrik Hololei spoke about the need to develop the air transport and importance to maintain the independence and a high level of professionalism at the Moldovan Civil Aviation Authority, stressing that important achievements had been recorded in this respect. Henrik Hololei noted that the Moldova – EU cooperation in this sector may be regarded as a success story. At the same time, the official highlighted the importance to continue the reforms underway and promote a new Code of Civil Aviation.    

“In a short period of time, the government you lead has registered big progress and we rely on the fact that you will further remain devoted to this approach,” the European Commission official said.   

The sides also discussed a Moldovan government initiative to create a service for providing air medical assistance according to the model of SMURD (Romanian Mobile Emergency Service for Resuscitation and Extrication) from Romania, as well as possibility for Moldova and European Commission to cooperate in this sector. Henrik Hololei welcomed this decision, encouraging the submission of an official request in this respect, and the Commission will identify the best possibilities of involvement, so that this services work in Moldova as well.   

The officials also discussed upgrading the railway transport, developing the land roads’ networks, possibilities to diversify cooperation with the European Commission in the transport field, as well as the good implementation of the project on modernizing the civil aviation, launched in Chisinau on 13 July.   

Director General for Mobility and Transport at the European Commission Henrik Hololei is on a working visit to Moldova, on the occasion of the launch of the EU’s project under the aegis of EASA, Support and Assistance in Civil Aviation Sector for Eastern Partnership and Central Asia Countries.

(Editor M. Jantovan)