Moldovan, European officials approach important issues in Prague

Chisinau, 2 Sep. /MOLDPRES/- Deputy Prime Minister Nicu Popescu, Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration participated in the Gymnich meeting of the European Union's foreign ministers, held in Prague. It is the first meeting in this format in which our country participates as a future member state of the EU, the MAEIE press service has reported.

Popescu mentioned to the European officials that the unanimous support for our country by granting the candidate country status in the historic vote of the Council of the European Union on 23 June preceded by the approval of the European Commission motivated us to speed up the approval after internal consultations of the ambitious and extensive Action Plan on nine measures set in the Commission's note.

"We will continue to work to minimize the impact of the war and contribute to regional stability, at the same time accelerating the pace of reforms and transformation of the country to get closer to the EU and bring concrete benefits to the citizens," said Popescu.

The official discussed with Hadja Lahbib, minister of foreign affairs, European affairs and foreign trade of Belgium about the next steps in the European integration of our country in several areas: the reform of justice and the fight against corruption, the operation of laws, the elimination of oligarchic influences on the economic, political and in the mass media, the improvement of the electoral legislation, as well as the public administration reform.

At the meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia Urmas Reinsalu, who recently returned to the position of head of Estonian diplomacy, Popescu said "we understand that the process of European integration is long-lasting and we are ready to act to give citizens the future they deserve - a peaceful and prosperous one and within the European family".

Ways to deepen the Moldovan-Slovenian dialogue were discussed with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia Tanja Fajon. The Chisinau official spoke about the government's efforts to transform Moldova into a stronger and more resilient state in the face of internal and external challenges, including by strengthening the internal affairs, security and defense sector.

During the talks with José Manuel Albares, Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, the European Union and Cooperation, Popescu said that Spain is an important commercial partner of our country and a source of investment with over 50 companies with Spanish capital, well-known brands in the energy, wine and automotive sectors.

The Moldovan official conveyed our country's firm interest in enhancing bilateral relations to Minister of Foreign Affairs and Defense of Ireland Simon Coveney.

"Ireland's support for modernization to community standards, as well as the willingness shown to offer support in our European journey, will contribute to the transformations long awaited by the citizens", Popescu said.

In the speech at the plenary session and during the talks on the sidelines of the meeting with foreign ministers of Romania Bogdan Aurescu, of Sweden Ann Linde, of Italy Luigi Di Maio, of Poland Zbigniew Rau, of Croatia Gordan Grlić Radman, of Luxembourg Jean Asselborn, of the Kingdom of the Netherlands Wopke Hoekstra, of Denmark Jeppe Kofoed, Popescu spoke about our common challenges and concerns in the context of the new geopolitical reality after the unjustified military aggression of Ukraine by the Russian Federation, which has a profound impact on our region and country.

Together with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba, Popescu spoke about the bilateral agenda and welcomed the efforts of relevant institutions in our country to strengthen cooperation in railway infrastructure and energy sector, including the diversification of electricity sources for our country with the help of Ukraine.

"I talked in Prague with the head of Georgian diplomacy, Ilia Darchiashvili, exchanging vies on the implementation of the reforms recommended by the European Commission, the future of the Eastern Partnership, the bilateral relationship, and the common future in the European Union," said Popescu.

Also, the Moldovan official met with Robert G. Berschinski, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director of the National Security Council for Democracy and Human Rights at the National Security Council of the United States of America, with whom he talked about achievements in strengthening democracy and ongoing justice reform in our country. We still need US help to prosecute fugitive corrupt individuals and close cooperation with US partners in the fight against corruption.

"I thanked the host, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský, and European officials - Josep Borrell, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Olivér Várhelyi, European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement, noting the importance of the support of European partners in deepening our relationship with EU in the context in which our country went from a neighboring country of the EU to a candidate state for accession. We are a community of countries that share the same values of democracy, freedom, the rule of law and adherence to an international order based on rules", Popescu said.

Photo: MAEIE