The Republic of Moldova in 2025-2027 will expand its diplomatic presence by opening new embassies in Egypt and Kazakhstan and additional consulates in the U.S., Germany and Canada. This was announced by Deputy Prime Minister Mihai Popșoi, Minister of Foreign Affairs, at consultations organized by the Parliament’s committee on foreign policy and European integration. Also, among the priorities for the next period, the minister mentioned the extension of international relations in order to increase development assistance, strengthening of economic diplomacy and promotion of agreements in favor of the diaspora, IPN reports.
“We plead for a pro-active, anticipative, coherent and predictable foreign policy, oriented towards concrete results. Thus, we focus on the professionalization of the diplomatic staff, but also on the expansion of the diplomatic presence in countries where the number of Moldovan citizens in the diaspora has increased exponentially,” stressed Mihai Popșoi.
The foreign minister noted that 55 bilateral treaties were signed in 2022, and 51 agreements - in 2023. “As in the previous years, most of them were aimed at supporting the Moldovan diaspora. In the field of driving license conversion, bilateral documents have been concluded with countries such as Albania, Italy, Turkey, Lithuania, Germany, Israel, Spain, the most recent agreement being the exchange of notes on the mutual conversion of driving licenses with France. We are working on this segment with the UK, Ireland,” stated the official.
According to him, in the field of social security, the Republic of Moldova concluded 48 treaties – 21 treaties at the level of states, 10 at the level of Governments and 16 at the level of ministries. There are 11 projects under consultation or negotiation – with Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Slovenia, Slovakia, Albania, Kazakhstan, Switzerland, etc. It is also considered the opportunity to start negotiations with France, Canada. Efforts are being made to unblock the situation in this area with Israel.
Since the Republic of Moldova obtained the EU candidate status, it was necessary to inventory the legal basis with the states of the Commonwealth of Independent States. “Of the total 282 agreements to which Moldova is a party, according to the examination conducted at the beginning of the year, 32 no longer have an effect and the process as a whole is based on the interest of the Republic of Moldova and the citizens of the Republic of Moldova,” said the foreign minister.
In another development, the Deputy Prime Minister said that the MFA is in the process of digitizing consular services by creating an integrated information system under the generic name e-consulate, and also by launching the centralized system of appointments at consular services. According to him, these actions involve institutional adaptation and recalibration, harmonization of the work process and modification of a number of normative acts.
