President of Romania awards distinctions to two personalities of Moldova

Chisinau, 23 January /MOLDPRES/ - A former deputy prime minister in charge of the reintegration policies, Gheorghe Balan, and a literary critic and historian, Ana Bantos, have been awarded distinctions for special merits by Romanian President Klaus Iohannis. The ceremony of handing the distinctions took place at the headquarters of Romania’s Embassy in Chisinau today.       

In his speech, Romanian Ambassador to Moldova Daniel Ionita said that it was significant the fact that the ceremony of handing the distinctions was held on the eve of a great holiday, with historical reverberations – 160th anniversary of the Union of the Romanian Principalities, when the foundations of the Modern Romania were laid.  

Thus, as a token of high appreciation, the President of Romania awarded the National Order For Merit in Degree of Commander to deputy prime minister in charge of reintegration policies (2016-2018) in Moldova’s government, Gheorghe Balan, “for important contribution to the strengthening of the strategic partnership between Romania and Moldova, through initiatives meant to deepen the interconnection of the societies from the two states.”     

In the Laudation, Ambassador Daniel Ionita said that Gheorghe Balan had acted as head of the Reintegration Bureau during 2020-2016 and representative of Moldova at the five-plus-two negotiations on the Transnistrian conflict. “During all these years, but especially on the period when Gheorghe Balan was negotiator in the 5+2 format, the Moldovan government initiated complex processes on the settlement of important files for both banks of Dniester, through the promotion, backing and implementation of protocols on: Latin-script schools from the left bank of Dniester, free access for owners and farmers to their farmlands along the highway Tiraspol-Rabnita, opening of the movement on the bridge Gura-Bacului-Bacioc, apostilling education diplomas issued by the Taras Shevchenko University from Tiraspol, re-establishment of the phone connection between the two banks of Dniester,” the Romanian diplomat stressed.      

At the same ceremony, literary critic and historian, Ana Bantos, was awarded the Cultural Merit Order in the Degree of Officer, Category A, Literature. The distinction is provided by Romania’s President Klaus Werner Iohannis as a token of appreciation for the important contribution to the promotion of the Romanian culture, language and spirituality in Moldova, thus contributing to the strengthening of the bilateral relations. Ambassador Daniel Ionita noted that “Ana Bantos is a quite appreciated literary and historical critic in Moldova. She has more than 200 studies and articles, including a monograph, two collections of articles and an analytical programme.”    

Contacted by MOLDPRES, the former deputy prime minister, Gheorghe Balan, said that he was honoured that he had been appreciated for the fact that he managed to contribute to the development of the Moldovan-Romanian relations. “I believe that the Moldovan-Romanian cooperation will help us further move in the direction of the European integration,” Balan said. For her part, Ana Bantos said that this distinction symbolized the importance of promoting the Romanian cultural values.