Group of Austrian parliament members visits Moldova

Chisinau, 04 July /MOLDPRES/ – Austria is a very important partner for Moldova – it is the message sent at the meetings with the Austrian MPs today, members of the Friendship Group with the Republic of Moldova in the Austrian Parliament, the parliament’s communication and public relations department has reported.

Parliament Speaker, Andrian Candu, pleaded for the meeting with the Austrian MEPs to increase the share of Austrian investments and capital in Moldova, while also thanking to the support given to Moldova on different dimensions.

"We are in transformations of different dimensions. Our priority is that Moldova becomes a member of the EU when it is ready. We will meet all the challenges we face to restore the citizens’ trust and development partners. We have political will and put the interests of citizens rather than narrow parties’ ones," said Andrian Candu.

The speaker announced that he agreed with Prime Minister Pavel Filip to develop a new roadmap for the priority reform agenda for the next half of 2017. The document includes about 60 actions, measures and commitments, with clear implementation deadlines and institutions responsible for implementing the provisions of the Association Agreement.

The members of the Friendship Group with Moldova in the Parliament of Austria had another meeting with the MPs from the Parliamentary Friendship Group in Chisinau.

Chief of the Friendship Group, Alina Zotea, mentioned that in 2017 we mark 25 years of the establishment of the Moldovan-Austrian diplomatic relations and on that occasion, for the first time, the Moldova-Austria Friendship Group was in Moldova.

"We thank the Austrian Government for maintaining Moldova in the list of priority countries for Austrian assistance under the Austrian Government Cooperation Development Program in important areas such as good governance, institutional capacity building, vocational education, water supply, etc. Over the years, over 34 projects have been carried out with the support of Austrian assistance, amounting to about 29.5 million euros," said the MP.

At his turn, the President of the Friendship Group with the Republic of Moldova in the Parliament of the Republic of Austria, Robert Lugar, reiterated Austria's interest for the Republic of Moldova, including the parliamentary affiliation, through the transmission of good practices and experiences in the priority areas of development of Moldova. The Parliamentarian said that Austria has closely been following Moldova's developments.

The Austrian MPs also met with members of the Foreign Policy and European Integration Commission. The President of the Commission, Valentina Buliga, informed the MPs about the achievements of Moldova in its European path. The talks also focused on developments in the Transnistrian region, relations with the Russian Federation, the EU countries, NATO, OSCE, etc.

The Austrian MEPs are interested in reforms in Moldova, including education, energy security, citizens' social security and the fight against corruption.

During the day, the delegation of the Austrian Parliament has meetings with representatives of factions and parliamentary groups.

The Friendship Group with the Republic of Moldova in the Parliament of the Republic of Austria visits Chisinau on 03-06 July 2017.