Moldovan foreign affairs minister receives counterpart of Spain

Chisinau, 16 March /MOLDPRES/ - Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Affairs and European Integration Minister Nicu Popescu has received his Spanish counterpart José Manuel Albares. This is the first visit to Moldova by a foreign affairs minister of Spain since 2008, the Foreign Affairs and European Integration Ministry’s (MAEIE) press service has reported.    

The meeting included discussions on subjects concerning the security developments in the region, the major impact of the war from Ukraine and the unprecedented humanitarian crisis which started on the European continent following the pandemic. The two officials reiterated the firm support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, within the limits of the internationally recognized borders and condemned Russia’s military aggression against the neighbor country.     

„Our people starting from the first days have provided what we could do best of all: solidarity with the Ukrainian nation and the calm, worthy management of the humanitarian situation. On this period, more than 300,000 refugees entered Moldova and slightly more than 100,000 receive our shelter and care now too, increasing the country’s population by 4 per cent,’’ Deputy PM Nicu Popescu said.     

The Moldovan official said that the management of the flow of refugees was a pressure on the country’s public budget. For his reason, he expressed appreciation for the solidarity of the partners from the European Union, which support the relocation of the Ukrainian refugees in the European countries, including Spain at those 3 centres opened in Madrid, Alicante and Barcelona.   

„We established with the foreign affairs minister that we are resolute to develop and adapt our bilateral relation to the new realities, given that, on 31 January, the two countries marked the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations. I said that Moldova, being in full process of reforms, needs support in order to carry through the modernization process which it assumed through the signing of the Association Agreement with the European Union, in order to improve our people’s well-being,’’ Minister Nicu Popescu said.     

The sides expressed wish to set a close cooperation in more sectors of common interest, such as justice and transparent administration, policies of governance and modernization of the public administrations, infrastructure and energy, security, including the cyber one, and fight against the organized crime.  

Given that the bilateral trade amounted to 150 million euros in 2021, the sides discussed also perspectives of extending the economic cooperation, increasing the commercial exchanges, tourism and enhancing the presence of Spanish investors in Moldova.  

„The strong relations between the two countries are strengthened by the numerous Diaspora from Spain. In this context, we referred to the bilateral legal framework, especially to the agreements which regard the Diaspora: agreement in the social protection field, which might be signed soon, as well as the negotiation of an agreement on the conversion of driver’s licences. We know how important it is for our citizens from Spain; we remain in dialogue with the Spanish side. We want to liberalizes the roaming tariffs with the European Union member states; therefore, today I proposed to start this process in the bilateral framework with Spain,’’ the Moldovan diplomacy head said.      

Deputy PM Nicu Popescu expressed gratitude for the backing of Moldova’s European aspirations by Spain. He noted that the Moldovan authorities relied on the support of the Madrid authorities, especially now, when the European Commission was invited to give its opinion on Moldova’s application on accession to the European Union, submitted on 4 March.    

„Our country is a European state; we speak a European language and have a European identity. We have a strong mandate to bring Moldova to EU. The direction of rapprochement with the European Union means for us integration into an area of Freedom, Stability and Peace. We will work quickly for our country’s irreversible European future,’’ Minister Nicu Popescu added.  

Photo: MAEIE