President Maia Sandu said the Republic of Moldova aims to continue to exchange good practices with Lithuania in the fields of modernization of the security sector and ensuring of the observance of the law. After a meeting with her Lithuanian counterpart Gitanas Nauseda in Vilnius, the Moldovan official said that Lithuania has stood by the Republic of Moldova for 30 years and the good neighborly relations and successful partnerships should be strengthened further, but peace is needed for the purpose, IPN reports.

“We appreciate the excellent relations between us and the firm support that Lithuania offered in time to our citizens, to their European aspirations and the democratic transformation of our country. We appreciate our bilateral cooperation and want to strengthen it. We have good sector cooperation in the fields of public security, border management, agriculture, good governance and defense. We want to work together in such areas as combating of hybrid threats and disinformation and to extend contacts between our local communities,” stated Maia Sandu.

She noted that Lithuania has financed development projects in good governance and to strengthen the capacities of civil society in the Republic of Moldova. “Forty-eight Lithuanian companies currently operate in the Republic of Moldova and we have good potential to extend the economic and commercial relations. But we need peace to achieve these objectives. Four months and a half ago, Russia attacked Ukraine in an unprovoked and unjustified way. This ongoing tragedy concerns us all. The Republic of Moldova has strongly condemned Russia’s war against Ukraine since the very beginning,” noted President Sandu.

She also said that despite the numerous crises, the Republic of Moldova follows its path of European integration, while the EU candidate status offers it hope that despite the unprecedented challenges, the country can be transformed and modernized with the assistance of the European community.

Maia Sandu took part in the ceremony to hoist the national flag on the occasion of the Statehood Day. She was conferred the highest state award of Lithuania – the Order of Vytautas the Great.