Romania supports the Republic of Moldova in the European integration process as the two countries have a common history, culture and language and because it is in Romania’s interest to have a stable and thriving state in its neighborhood, said the director general of the Romanian Diplomatic Institute Liliana Popescu. According to her, the citizens of the Republic of Moldova should realize the historic chance to open accession negotiations with the EU, which the country enjoys today, IPN reports.

The head of the Romanian Diplomatic Institute noted that the Republic of Moldova sees unprecedented openness on the part of the European chancelleries and this opportunity should be taken so that the accession negotiations are opened by the end of this year.

“The Republic of Moldova is in a very beneficial situation at the moment. I refer to the openness on the part of Brussels, of the European capitals. As the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania Luminița Odobescu said, this is a historic chance. It is important to take this historic chance, to profit from it as these conditions imposed by Brussels, by the Commission are conditions designed to help the Republic of Moldova start the accession negotiations given that it is one thing to have the candidate status and it is another thing to start the negotiations. In the history of the European Union, there are states that remained candidates for years without the negotiations being opened. For example, the Republic of North Macedonia had been hampered for many years to start accession negotiations even if it had the candidate status,” Liliana Popescu stated in the program “Reflection Points” on Vocea Basarabiei channel.

She noted that Romania remains the most important advocate of the Republic of Moldova in Brussels as Bucharest wants a prosperous, stable and safe country in its vicinity.

“We consider the Republic of Moldova is our relative, our brother. We want to support it as we have the same language and culture and have a common history. On the other hand, it is in Romania’s interest to have a stable, thriving state integrated into the European Union in its neighborhood. At the moment, the Republic of Moldova is closely tied to Ukraine. The Republic of Moldova’s chance came on the wake of this Russian aggression and invasion of Ukraine, but we don’t know how things develop. The citizens of the Republic of Moldova should realize the importance of this chance to become the integral part of a society that abides by the law, unlike a society that functions in a mafia style. I’m happy that Romania followed the path of integration into the EU and NATO as we have peace, stability and even prosperity,” said Liliana Popescu.

The director general of the Romanian Diplomatic Institute Liliana Popescu is paying a visit to Chisinau together with other mates from Bucharest to train officials, members of the diplomatic corps and public functionaries of the Republic of Moldova. The professional training program centering on European affairs was organized by the Romanian Diplomatic Institute in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the International Development Cooperation Agency.