President: Moldova has excellent relationship with France

President Maia Sandu said in an interview with Radio France Internationale that the Republic of Moldova has an excellent relationship with France. "We have managed to build this relationship especially in the last three to four years," said the head of state.

Maia Sandu said that thanks to this relationship, we manage to promote interests in discussions where Moldova is not invited, but France is present.


"The recent visit to France was an occasion to discuss the current situation in the Republic of Moldova and what our interests are and how France can continue to promote the interests of the Republic of Moldova. What are these interests? Firstly, to maintain peace, to have our sovereignty and territorial integrity respected, including through the withdrawal of Russian troops from the territory of the Republic of Moldova. So, we discussed all these issues, and we have France's support, as we have the support of other important actors on the continent to protect these interests of the Republic of Moldova," Maia Sandu said.


The president said that our country has cooperation relations with the French side in many areas.


"We have cooperation in the economic field, which is important because our economic resilience also depends on general resilience. We have cooperation in the defense sector, cooperation in the security field. We also have cooperation in combating disinformation. An agreement was signed in this regard. We have much to learn from France, with cooperation in the energy sector as well. This concerns the energy security of the Republic of Moldova. We are assisted by France to increase our resilience in terms of climate change," Sandu concluded.


Maia Sandu was on a working visit to the French Republic on March 10-11, at the invitation of President Emmanuel Macron. Moldova and France signed three documents: an agreement on social protection; a 30 million euro financing agreement for improving the energy efficiency of public buildings in Moldova; and a letter of intent regarding cooperation in combating disinformation.

The head of state also met with speakers of the two chambers of the French Parliament – Yaël Braun-Pivet, President of the National Assembly, and Gérard Larcher, President of the Senate. Together with the Moldovan-French friendship groups, the officials discussed France's consistent support for Moldova's European path, expressed by representatives from across the political spectrum. In Paris, the head of state also had a meeting with mayor of the French capital Anne Hidalgo and discussed potential cooperation.

Another point on the agenda was the meeting with Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, to discuss cooperation in culture and education, as well as measures to protect the Gagauz language and culture.