Romania is the main partner of the Republic of Moldova at economic and political levels, Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of the Republic of Moldova Nicu Popescu stated after a meeting with his Romanian counterpart Bogdan Aurescu, who was in Chisinau on an official visit, IPN reports. For his part, the Romanian official noted that Romania will stand by the Republic of Moldova whenever necessary.
Nicu Popescu took stock of the support projects implemented in the Republic of Moldova by Romania, adding that these have a direct and positive impact on the citizens. He noted that Romania is a strategic partner for the Republic of Moldova, including at economic level.
“Romania is our main partner and the main destination for Moldova’s exports. In the course of this year, we have had record figures that exceed €3 billion,” stated Popescu.
He noted that the Republic of Moldova needs to strengthen its defense sector, including with the assistance of Romania. Given the witnessed hybrid threats, Moldova needs the assistance of its partners to defend itself.
For his part, the Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Bogdan Aurescu said that 2022 has been a difficult year, but the proper communication between the Moldovan and Romanian authorities was an important factor in overcoming the obstacles.
“It hasn’t been an easy year. On the contrary, it has been probably the most difficult year in our diplomatic career, but we have passed it well owing to our cooperation. The joint meeting of the governments, all the meetings this year had a frequency and very great intensity. Each ambassador of Romania, there where they are, is also an ambassador of the Republic of Moldova. We have a very profound discussion on how we can counteract the negative impact of the Russian Federation’s war against Ukraine. Chisinau feels the consequences of this war. The shelling in Ukraine affected the import of electrical energy and Romania intervened promptly and took emergency measures. Romania will stand permanently by the Republic of Moldova when necessary. This is the purpose of my visit here, in Chisinau,” stated Bogdan Aurescu.
The official noted that Romania wants to be able to implement long-lasting projects, like energy interconnection ones, together with the Republic of Moldova.
“The ensuring of energy security necessitates not only immediate support measures but also long-term energy interconnection projects. We spoke about the continuation of the Republic of Moldova – Ukraine – Romania trilateral meetings. We agreed to have one more meeting at the beginning of next year. We will continue to actively become involved at European and international levels for mobilizing the international community’s attention to the needs of the Republic of Moldova. The coming year is decisive for initiating the process of joining the European Union. We discussed a number of measures that would lead to integration into the domestic market of the EU,” stated Bogdan Aurescu.
Asked about the reforms done in Moldova in the justice sector, the Romanian official said that he approves of the efforts made by the authorities that show by concrete results that they take pro-reform measures.
“The obtaining of the EU candidate status is an exceptional result. It is the result of the pro-reform actions taken by the authorities. Such an accomplishment wouldn’t have been possible if the European Commission hadn’t seen these results achieved by the authorities. In front of the Republic of Moldova, there is a road that will be extremely determinate, but very serious, for fulfilling the recommendations of the EU,” stated Bogdan Aurescu.
While in Chisinau, Bogdan Aurescu had meetings with President Maia Sandu, Parliament Speaker Igor Grosu and Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilița.
In their discussion, Maia Sandu and Bogdan Aurescu underlined the prompt approaches made by the Romanian institutions to supply Moldova with over 80% of the necessary electricity in times of crisis. The two underscored the importance of developing crossborder electric power interconnections between the two states.
In the meeting with Premier Gavrilița, Minister Aurescu welcomed the remarkable dynamics of the bilateral commercial exchanges that saw an accelerated growth. At the end of 2022, trade between Moldova and Romania is expected to reach a record high of US$3.5 billion, up about 46% on last year. For his part, Speaker Grosu welcomed the very active bilateral parliamentary cooperation at the level of commissions and through constant dialogue between the leaders of the legislative bodies of Moldova and Romania.
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