Moldovan foreign affairs minister has meeting with Croatian counterpart

Chisinau, 1 February /MOLDPRES/ - Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Affairs and European Integration Minister Nicu Popescu today had a meeting with Foreign and European Affairs Minister of Croatia Gordan Grlić Radman, whose visit fits into the actions dedicated to the 30th   anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between Moldova and Croatia, the Foreign Affairs and European Integration Ministry’s (MAEIE) press service has reported.

„I appreciated much the strong message of support conveyed by Mr. Minister in his capacity of European official for the pro-European government from Moldova, a strong message of support for everything which Moldova is doing in the process of reforms, combating corruption, adhesion to the European values, as well as for the promotion of the rule of law state,’’ Deputy PM Nicu Popescu said.  

The interlocutors discussed the priority fields of cooperation between the two countries, with emphasis on the boosting of the commercial and economic relations and exchange of experience in the European integration sector.

„I voiced appreciation for the continuous support of Croatia for Moldova’s European agenda, as well as for the special attention provided to strengthening the dialogue between the European Union and the Eastern Partnership states. The citizens felt also this thing in the current energy and sanitary crisis. The situation is and remains difficult in Moldova; yet, without European support, including on behalf of Croatia, the negative impact of both the energy and the pandemic crisis would have been much more serious,’’ the Moldovan diplomacy head said.      

Another important subject of discussions was the advancement in the direction of the increase in the number of companies and mutual investments. The sides spoke out for having more trade, more investments and more tourists.  

The officials agreed on the setting up of an inter-governmental commission for economic cooperation and backing the initiative of organizing a forum of business people, including with the support of two Moldovan honorary consulates opened in Zagreb and Varazdin.  

„We will advance in accelerated pace, in order to sign a bilateral agreement concerning the cutting of the roaming tariffs, for the benefit for the two countries’ citizens,’’ Minister Nicu Popescu said.  

„The next meeting of the Moldovan-Croatian inter-governmental commission for European integration will be held in Zagreb this year; the event will generate concrete results, for the taking over of good practices in the field of adjusting the legislation and strengthening the institutional capacities. I appreciated the interaction within the regional organizations and initiatives.   

Additionally to those 18 bilateral in force, the sides agreed on the need to finish, in the nearest future, the negotiations for the signing of a new agreement between Moldova and Croatia, this time in the education, science and innovations sector,’’ the Moldovan official noted.

„And today, in order to make the diplomatic service more connected to the European standards, we signed the Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation between the Diplomatic Institute of Moldova’s Foreign affairs and European Integration Ministry and the Diplomatic Academy of Croatia’s Foreign and European Affairs Ministry, in order to give Moldovan diplomats access to quality qualification courses in the field of foreign policy and international relations,’’ Nicu Popescu added.   

Photo: MAEIE