Moldovan foreign affairs minister has meetings with more counterparts in New York

Chisinau, 21 September /MOLDPRES/ - The Moldovan diplomacy head, Nicu Popescu, on the first working day at the high-level segment of the 77th  United Nations General Assembly, has had meetings with Foreign Affairs Minister of Portugal  João Gomes Cravinho, foreign affairs ministers of the member states of the Organization for Democracy and Economic Development (GUAM): Foreign Affairs Minister of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov, Foreign Affairs Minister of Georgia Ilia Darchiashvili, Foreign Affairs Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba. Also, Nicu Popescu met Foreign Affairs Minister of Latvia Edgars Rinkēvičs, Foreign Affairs Minister of Cyprus, Ioannis Kasoulides, Danish Foreign Affairs Minister Jeppe Kofod, the Foreign Affairs and European Integration Ministry’s (MAEIE) public diplomacy, strategic communication and media interaction service has reported.     

Deputy PM Nicu Popescu and Portuguese Foreign Affairs Minister João Gomes Cravinho discussed the mutual interest in a more intense cooperation between Moldova and Portugal.  

Being a state hit by the consequences of the war at the borders, the officials referred to diverse ways through which Moldova can be backed in continuation, both on the way of reforms and on the one of accession to the European Union.  

„Also, I noted that the important factor which contributes to the rapprochement between our countries is the community of Moldovans settled in Portugal, who successfully integrated in the Portuguese society, due to the friendly conditions provided by the authorities.   

I agreed with the minister to work together for the benefit of concrete projects for our fellow countrymen from Portugal,’’ Minister Nicu Popescu said.

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Deputy Prime Minister Nicu Popescu participated in a meeting of the Council of Foreign Affairs Ministers of GUAM, held in New York, in the context of the exercising by Moldova of the mandate of Chairman of this Organization.

The Moldovan official discussed with Foreign Affairs Ministers Jeyhun Bayramov, Ilia Darchiashvili and Dmytro Kuleba more topical subjects on the developments in the region, resulted in the wake of Russia’s war in Ukraine and analyzed ways of providing the support needed through GUAM.  

„We agreed on the need to consolidate the organization through deepening the processes of cooperation between the member states. I firmly said that Moldova sees the Organization’s potential of development – the main stake being the deepening of the sectoral cooperation; in this respect, the chairmanship’s efforts are further aimed at exploring opportunities of implementing the projects on transport, energy resilience and developing the infrastructure,’’ Minister Nicu Popescu said.  

After years of negotiations, the participants in this meeting signed two important for backing the relations of cooperation in the economic and social sectors between the four GUAM member states: Protocol on the Rules of establishing the origin country of goods and the GUAM Convention on the providing of mutual assistance in consular issues.  

Note: The Protocol on the Rules of establishing the origin country of goods is competent part of the Agreement on the creation of the GUAM Free Trade Area (concluded in Yalta in 2001). Its signing represents a significant contribution to improving the normative framework of regulation of the trade exchanges and customs procedures between the GUAM member states.   

Once entered into force, the Protocol will help increase the commercial flows of goods and will encourage the creation of joint commercial projects within the GUAM member states.

You can find details here: https://bit.ly/3R0JixS.

The schedule of meetings continued with a quite comprehensive discussion with Foreign Affairs Minister of Latvia Edgars Rinkēvičs, who is an ardent supporter of Moldova’s course of reformation and European modernization.  

„I thanked Latvia for the close cooperation in the management of the crisis of refugees from Ukraine, as a result of the unjust war of Russia against Ukraine, as well as for the financial assistance provided on the sidelines of the regional plan of response for refugees in Moldova.

Along with Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs, I spoke out for boosting the economic diplomacy between the two countries, including through the development with the involvement of Latvian partners of projects concerning the diversification of energy sources,’’ Deputy PM Nicu Popescu said.    

You can find details here: https://bit.ly/3SosLov.

La New York, Deputy PM Nicu Popescu held a discussion with Foreign Affairs Minister of Cyprus Ioannis Kasoulides, in order to revive the Moldovan-Cypriot diplomatic dialogue. The officials tackled the principal up-to-date subjects on the bilateral and European agenda, as well as the impact of the war from Ukraine on Moldova.   

„I was happy with the support by the Cypriot colleague for our proposal for deepening the exchange of good practices in the European integration field, given the getting by Moldova of the status of candidate for accession to the European Union,’’ Minister Nicu Popescu noted.   

Also, Deputy Prime Minister Nicu Popescu accepted the invitation by his Cypriot counterpart to pay a working visit to Nicosia, in order to further strengthen the good bilateral relations for the benefit of the citizens.   

You can find details here: https://bit.ly/3R0ZP57.

At a meeting between Deputy PM Nicu Popescu and his Danish counterpart Jeppe Kofod, the official discussed the steps Moldova is taking on its way to EU, the usefulness of the Danish assistance in the process of the country’s transformation  and the interest in the extension of the economic cooperation, including through the attraction of business people from Denmark.   

„I emphasized our strategic interest in the Danish expertise in the renewable energy field,’’ Minister Nicu Popescu said.

The regional situation triggered by Russia’s war against Ukraine and the energy crisis as its consequence represents one of the principal concerns of the authorities; thus, it is necessary to take concrete measures, in order to strengthen the energy resilience.  

„The Danish people continues to help us with development assistance, in order to implement a project on energy transition, as well as a programme on support of the civil society, press freedom and counteracting the misinformation, essentially contributing to the European modernization of our society,’’ the Moldovan official said.  

You can find details here: https://bit.ly/3faCalD.

Symbolically, and at the UN, Moldova and Romania are not only by the side of each other, but also together.

At the session on 20 September, Deputy PM Nicu Popescu concluded: ‘’I am happy to see again the good friend Bogdan Aurescu and along with our teams from New York and from the capitals, we participate in the most important diplomatic week.   

In a world with many challenges, the multilateralism matters as never before.’’  

Photo: MAEIE