Moldovan official talked to counterparts of 12 states

Chisinau, 4 Dec. / MOLDPRES /- On the sidelines of the 28th Ministerial Council of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) held in Stockholm (Sweden), Deputy Prime Minister Nicu Popescu, Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration hed meetings with Romanian counterparts, United States, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Poland, Ireland, Ukraine, Austria, Estonia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and the Kyrgyz Republic, the MAEIE press service has reported.

"The diplomacy of concrete facts means, among other things, capitalizing on any opportunities to promote the country's profile abroad, making new friends and making efficient use of multilateral platforms to highlight the bilateral agenda we are proposing," Deputy Prime Minister Nicu Popescu said.

The head of diplomacy in Chisinau spoke to OSCE ministers about Moldova's determination to continue efforts to identify a comprehensive solution to the Transnistrian conflict based on respect for Moldova's sovereignty and territorial integrity within internationally recognized borders.

In a discussion with Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu, Popescu expressed the conviction that the new roadmap recently signed in Bucharest in the presence of Presidents Maia Sandu and Klaus Iohannis will accelerate the realization of concrete infrastructure projects that support the irreversible European course of our country.

"We will prepare in the near future the meeting of the prime ministers in order to establish punctually the next actions that we are going to carry out together with Romania", said Popescu.

At the meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the Deputy Prime Minister received a strong message of support for the reform agenda initiated by the Chisinau Government.

"The strategic dialogue is to be strengthened by relaunching the sectoral working groups in the fields of justice and the rule of law, commercial-economic and energy security," the Moldovan official said.

In a discussion with Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde, new ways of advancing bilateral dialogue were established, including at the level of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, by exchanging best practices on gender equality.

"Sweden remains a close friend of our country by carrying out numerous programs aimed at promoting human rights, the rule of law and local initiatives that improve the lives of our citizens," said the head of diplomacy in Chisinau.

At the meeting with Anniken Huitfeldt, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway, the ways of cooperation in order to increase the energy resilience of our country were discussed, and it was agreed that preparations for a fact-finding visit will begin shortly.

The agenda of talks with Polish counterpart Zbigniew Rau contained a wide range of topics, starting with the dynamic nature of the Moldovan-Polish relationship in the political, economic, regional and international co-operation spheres.

"Poland's takeover of the OSCE presidency in 2022 is an excellent opportunity for us to qualitatively promote the settlement of the Transnistrian conflict," Popescu said.

At the meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia Eva-Maria Liimets, it was discussed about the intensification of the cooperation in the field of digitalization, starting from the fact that in the Chisinau Executive this portfolio is a priority one. The Estonian official pointed out that his country strongly supports the European course of the Republic of Moldova and the reform agenda aimed at modernizing the state.

"We agreed that digitization means transparency in the public and private spheres, bringing speed and security to data processing. We will also advance with initiatives in the field of cyber security ", mentioned Minister Popescu.

The Republic of Moldova participates in multiple regional formats, an example being the Organization for Democracy and Economic Development - GUAM, whose presidency will be taken over in 2022 by Moldova.

Also in Stockholm, the head of diplomacy of the Republic of Moldova Nicu Popescu participated together with Jeyhun Bayramov, David Zalkaliani and Dmytro Kuleba, the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Ukraine at the meeting of the Committee of Foreign Ministers of the Organization.

The mandate will coincide with the 25th anniversary of this format of regional cooperation, an opportune opportunity to organize various events, to increase the visibility of the organization and to revitalize the dynamics of dialogue in this format.

"We have devoted much of our discussion to the Irish Minister for European Affairs, Thomas Byrne, to our community in Ireland, which is appreciated for its civic spirit in the par elections.