Moldovan president participates in General Assembly of Network of Associations of Local Authorities in South-East Europe

Chisinau, 13 April /MOLDPRES/ - President Maia Sandu today participated in the opening of the annual meeting of the General Assembly of the Network of Associations of Local Authorities in South-East Europe (NALAS). This year, Moldova took over the NALAS chairmanship for the first time ever, the presidential press service has reported.  

„I am fully confident that the holding of the chairmanship by the Local Authorities Congress of Moldova  (CALM) will bring value added to the whole network of local and regional authorities from the South-Eastern Europe and will contribute, at the same time, to strengthening the communities and the local public administration in Moldova.  In the South-Eastern Europe, we face the same challenges most of all. Yet, we also have similar goals and common aspirations and namely the getting close to the European family of nations and creation of European living standards for our citizens,’’ Maia Sandu said at the opening of the event.    

The head of state pointed out as common objective the building of strong and prosperous communities, where people have opportunities of employment, access to water, sewerage, health and education services. ‘’Too many citizens flee the country looking for a better life. We want the people to remain in the country and those who left to return. We know that, to achieve such a goal, we must edify Europe at home. Our dream is to create European villages and towns here in Moldova and I assumed a firm commitment in the electoral campaign to back the local public administration in the achievement of this objective,’’ President Maia Sandu stressed.   

In the context, Maia Sandu referred also to the actions which should be undertaken to consolidate the local public authorities from Moldova: ensuring the fair access to public money for all settlements, working out of new financing mechanisms, which are to provide direct support to local communities, fiscal decentralization. Also, the head of state voiced hope that we will soon be able to launch the European Village programme, postponed because of the pandemic. This programme is set to combine diverse funds and simplify the rules of financing, so that equity and the access of communities to financing for local development projects grow.    

President Maia Sandu thanked the country’s partners, Council of Europe, NALAS, the European countries and all development partners which support regional and local development projects in Moldova. ‘’I firmly believe that an independent and strong local public administration is an important pillar of the democracy. In this respect, I will continue backing the independence of the local public authorities and to work for edifying an independent and responsible justice and prosecutor’s office. We will continue our efforts to ensure the decentralization and enhance the financial independence of the local authorities,’’ Maia Sandu added.     

photo: presedintie.md