The Republic of Moldova and the European Union will soon adopt a new cooperation agenda that will center on the Association Agreement between the sides and will be aimed at extending the relations. New plans and concrete accomplishments are waiting for us, Deputy Prime Minister Nicu Popescu, Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, stated in a press briefing held jointly with the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of the French Republic Jean-Yves Le Drian, noting that Moldova and France are now close as never before, IPN reports.
Nicu Popescu said the visit paid to Chisinau by his French counterpart, which is the first after 2014, is “historical”. Referring to the meeting of Maia Sandu with President Emanuel Macron in Paris earlier this year, the Moldovan minister noted the extension of relations and spoke about the intentions of the French Development Agency to support in Moldova environmental, drinking water supply, irrigation and energy efficiency projects.
Also, France is ready to take part in the modernization of the Chisinau – Ungheni railway section. Nicu Popescu said this desideratum is stipulated in the joint statement of the two ministers, as is the commitment of cooperation between the High Authority for Transparency in Public Life (HATVP) and the National Integrity Agency (NIA) in the reformation of the justice sector and the fight against corruption.
The Moldovan minister thanked France for its intention to encourage the support for the formation of Moldovan teaching staff in Moldova, which is member of OIF, including by providing the ‘francophone’ status to bilingual lyceums and by offering mobility scholarships for teachers.
Speaking about Moldova’s European agenda, Nicu Popescu said the country is determined to develop cooperation relations with the EU in such areas as the environment, digitalization, reformation of the public service and security, including regional one.
For his part, the French official said Moldova’s determination to build its own destiny and to do democratic reforms is great news for France and the other partner states. “Even if the EU is preoccupied with ties on other continents, Moldova is close. This proximity is not only geographical and is not only historical. Currently, the balance in our common Europe greatly depends also on the stability of the Republic of Moldova, on its capacity to take sovereign decisions, on the democratic progress,” stated Jean-Yves Le Drian.
On the occasion of its minister’s visit to Chisinau, France reaffirmed its full support for Moldova’s stability, strengthening of the rule of law and democracy, the fight against corruption and transformations that are beneficial to the European stability and that are needed for implementing the Moldova-EU Association Agreement.
Jean-Yves Le Drian said the reform program launched by President Maia Sandu is ambitious and assured that France will support it and will also support Nicu Popescu’s efforts to anchor the Republic of Moldova in Europe, including in the plans stipulated in the Association Agreement, primarily as regards the justice sector and the fight against corruption.
