The Republic of Moldova banks on the support of Slovakia in obtaining the status of candidate for EU membership. On March 4, the Republic of Moldova submitted the application, reaffirming this way its commitment to the European values, President Maia Sandu stated in a news conference held jointly with the President of Slovakia Zuzana Čaputová in Chisinau, IPN reports.
 
Maia Sandu said Slovakia has always stood by the Republic of Moldova and has consistently supported the efforts to strengthen democracy and to modernize the country. Since 2012, the Republic of Moldova has benefitted from priority development assistance from Slovakia. Assistance is offered for projects to fight corruption, to protect the environment, to support small and medium-sized enterprises, to strengthen the independent press and civil society. The Moldovan students can study in Slovakia on a scholarship from the Slovak state.

“Despite the major challenges we face, we have great plans for our country, with solid institutions that can ensure safety and high-quality services for the citizens. We make effort to advance in doing the justice sector reform, the reforms aimed at fighting corruption and strengthening the capacities of the institutions that need to fight corruption,” said President Sandu, noting actions are also taken to improve the business climate and to strengthen the economy.

As to the war in Ukraine, Maia Sandu said this affects Moldova at economic level too so that many exporters cannot sell their products on the Eastern markets. The carriers cannot access the traditional routes in the region, which were closed owing to the war. In such difficult conditions, the authorities are grateful to Slovakia for authorizing the transit of road freight from Moldova without permissive documents.

For her part, Zuzana Čaputová said Slovakia supports Moldova’s aspirations to join the EU. “We consider you an integral part of the European family, a country that has the same values and your mandate is very powerful for heading for accession. Surely, a number of conditions should be met and reforms should be done. This is a platform on which we can cooperate intensely to fight corruption, to do the justice sector reform and economic reforms,” said the Slovak official.

The President of Slovakia is paying a working visit to Chisinau on March 30.