Moldovan diplomacy head participates in conference dedicated to 30th anniversary of Copenhagen criteria in Denmark

Chisinau, 29 June /MOLDPRES/ - The Moldovan diplomacy head, Nicu Popescu, along with Government’s Secretary General Artur Mija have participated in a conference dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the Copenhagen Criteria – which have been and will remain an essential guide mark for all states aspiring to join the European Union, including Moldova, the Foreign Affairs and European Integration Ministry’s (MAEIE) press service has reported.       
 „At the conference, I said that Moldova meets, to a great extent, these criteria and namely: respect for democracy, for the fundamental human rights and freedoms, achievement of a functional market economy, as well as the implementation of the best EU standards in the national legislation. The progress made in fulfilling these criteria helped us get the status of country candidate for accession to the European Union and will help us start the negotiation on accession,’’ the Moldovan official said.      
In Copenhagen, Minister Nicu Popescu met his Danish counterpart Lars Løkke Rasmussen. The Moldovan official stressed that Moldova was fully committed to observe and implement the Copenhagen Criteria, in order to speed up the process of accession to EU.    
On the sidelines of the conference, Nicu Popescu had a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine Olga Stefanishyna. The sides discussed the importance and the way of coordinating the process of the two countries’ accession to EU. The Moldovan diplomacy head reiterated Moldova’s willingness to contribute to the joint efforts for Ukraine’s reconstruction.   
Deputy PM Nicu Popescu discussed also with Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs and North Macedonia Bojan Maricik, Foreign Affairs Minister of Estonia Margus Tsahkna and Foreign Affairs Minister of Serbia Tanja Miščević the progress made by Moldova in the implementation of those nine EU’s recommendations and the exchange of experience for the officials who work in the European affairs field.  
„I had also a meeting with President of the Committee on European Affairs of the Parliament Neils Flemming Hansen and a member in the Committee on Foreign Affairs Rasmus Prehn. We tackled the subject of speeding up the EU’s enlargement, based on the progress achieved by the countries candidates. I also unveiled the developments from our country and the next steps which will be undertaken for starting the negotiations on accession in the end of this year.     
Given that we want to attract as many investors as possible for the development of our country, in the end of the visit, I met also representatives of the Danish company  Shape Robotics, which opened a representation in our country and this will bring new jobs and will contribute to Moldova’s modernization,’’ Foreign Affairs Minister Nicu Popescu added.    
Photo: MAEIE