Foreign ministers of Moldova, Romania meet in Chisinau

Chisinau, 17 January /MOLDPRES/ – The prospects for deepening the bilateral Strategic Partnership, including in the context of priorities of the Romanian Presidency – in – Office of the Council of the European Union the opportunities to strengthen sectoral cooperation, especially on strategic energy and transport infrastructure projects, collaboration in international organisations and other issues of mutual interest have been discussed today in Chisinau by Moldovan and Romanian foreign affairs ministers, Tudor Ulianovschi and Teodor Melescanu, the MAEIE’s public diplomacy, strategic communication and media interaction service has reported.

Welcoming the dynamic and substantial cooperation in political, economic and cultural terms, Minister Tudor Ulianovschi has appreciated the support of Romania for the positive developments in Moldova and the support given to strengthening the cooperation with the structures of EU. "Moldova has always highly appreciated the continued support of Romania for the European agenda of Moldova, at both political and practical levels, with assistance in promoting reforms. In particular, we appreciate the firm position of Romania in the talks on the initiative to adopt the EU Council conclusions on Moldova," said the head of Moldovan diplomacy.

Minister Tudor Ulianovschi has welcomed the commitment of Romania to stimulate a process of reflection on the future of the Eastern Partnership, a European format that includes Moldova after 2020, noting that, for the time being, the state of the EU – Moldova dialogue has potential for gradual improvement. "Moldova has fulfilled its commitments in the relationship with EU, including with the support of Romania. We are looking forward to finalising the electoral period and setting new goals for the dynamism of the EU – Moldova relationship and continuation of the reform programmes," said Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration.

Referring to the sectoral cooperation of Moldova and Romania, Minister Tudor Ulianovschi, appreciated the Programme for rehabilitation of preschool institutions in Moldova, where there were repaired and equipped with all necessary almost 900 kindergartens, starting, since 15 January 2019, of the works for construction of gas pipeline Ungheni – Chisinau, a project of strategic importance for Moldova, etc. "We have expressed our gratitude to the Romanian Government for all the technical and financial support offered along the way, including the recent €3 million tranche, continuation of the Bilateral renovation and refurbishment programme of kindergartens," said Tudor Ulianovschi.

Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu also has mentioned that he came to Chisinau with a strong message of encouraging Moldova to continue the European objectives. "We have reconfirmed Romania's support for the European path of Moldova, in line with the bilateral strategic partnership for European integration of Moldova. We also used this opportunity to highlight the decisive importance of implementing the reforms undertaken in the context of the Association Agreement with EU," said the Romanian official.

Minister Teodor Melescanu welcomed the results registered by Moldova, mentioning that this effort must continue and go deeper, the success of the process of European integration of Moldova, referring first to Moldova. "We have evoked the expectations of EU, shared by Romania, in terms of achieving concrete results in the reform processes and in full compliance with the undertaken commitments. Within context, we highlighted the desire of Romania for EU to remain firmly committed to supporting the reform efforts of Moldova," said Romanian Foreign Minister.

Also, the head of the Romanian diplomacy has assured that Moldova is naturally one of the major priorities of the Romanian presidency of the Council of the EU and wishes to capitalise this opportunity for deepening the relationship of Moldova with EU. "We have shown that the success of our efforts depends decisively on the concrete results obtained by Moldova in the field of internal reforms, in full compatibility with the democratic values ​​and norms", said Teodor Melescanu.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania has stressed that during the talks with his counterpart in Chisinau, Tudor Ulianovschi, there was confirmed the common interest for advancement of the multitude of bilateral projects on all the dimensions of the economic, social, cultural, educational life. "We encourage the accelerated implementation of these projects, because they are a solid leverage to ensure the irreversibility of the European path of Moldova and improve the lives of citizens."

Romanian Foreign Minister, Teodor Melescanu, is on a working visit to Moldova today, at the invitation of his counterpart, Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, Tudor Ulianovschi.