“Romania has been a constant supporter of our citizens, regardless of the political inconsistency that regrettably characterized public life in the Republic of Moldova during the last few years,” Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilița stated at the beginning of the joint meeting of the Governments of Moldova and Romania. The official said a historical opportunity appeared now as the Governments of the two countries have prospects of ensuring long-lasting stability that can be materialized by putting long-term projects on the bilateral agenda, such as the energy security one, IPN reports.
Premier Gavrilița noted that the joint meeting of the government is a rare event, but it has an agenda that is beneficial to the citizens from both sides of the Prut. “The Government I manage undertook a clear and unequivocal commitment to offer a predictable and attractive framework for those who want to do business in Moldova, in accordance with the best European practices, while the reforms we launched, especially in the justice sector, are designed to offer investors certainty that their businesses will develop correctly, without impediments or arbitrary interventions on the part of obscure interest groups. Those times are over,” stated Natalia Gavrilița.
Moldova’s road to Europe goes through Romania. Besides the agreements that are to be signed today, the agenda of the meeting also includes subjects concerning the tense situation in the region, said Natalia Gavrilița. “Regrettably, on both sides of the river, as in many other countries in fact, we feel the effects of the multiple crises – rise in energy prices, the social and economic effects of the pandemic or the high level of prices of basic products. Beyond the crisis, we will today speak about the European agenda of the Republic of Moldova, the further implementation of the Association Agreement, the approval of a new Association Agenda of the Republic of Moldova with the EU for the next seven years,” said the Moldovan official.
The Prime Minister of Romania Nicolae-Ionel Ciucă said the joint meeting is a special, symbolical event. He expressed his conviction that this will produce results and will end with the signing of agreements, protocols and memorandums between ministers. “We are glad to see now in Chisinau the greatest openness ever seen in the relations with Romania. These favorable preconditions enable us to build an intense and ambitious bilateral agenda. In 2020, which was a crisis year, Romania offered official development assistance to the Republic of Moldova to the record value of €46.8 million, primarily in education, for scholarships,” stated the Romanian official.
Nicolae-Ionel Ciucă underlined the significance of the Joint Statement of the Government of Romania and the Government of the Republic of Moldova on cooperation in the economic and investment sectors. According to him, this is a political document that transmits a signal of firm support for the improvement of the business climate in the Republic of Moldova as an essential precondition for extending bilateral economic and investment cooperation.
“We bank on your support, of the Government of the Republic of Moldova, for concrete aspects of interest for us, over which we would like to see progress. I would name, for example, the request made also to the previous governments, to identity solutions to problems faced by the Metropolitan Church of Bessarabia. I think it is opportune to analyze the situation and to start a real dialogue,” stated the Romanian Premier.
As regards the European agenda of the Republic of Moldova, Nicolae-Ionel Ciucă assured that Romania will continue being a determined and vocal supporter and Moldova can bank on the full openness and cooperation of the Romanian institutions in Bucharest and in Brussels.
Given the difficult regional context and the significant deterioration of the security environment, the Romanian official said the joint meeting of the Governments of Romania and Moldova and the package of documents that will be signed reaffirm Romania’s full support for the strengthening of stability and security in the Republic of Moldova. “The difficult security context calls for coherent and broad measures to build the state’s resilience before the possible threats that are not only military in character. There is also the risk of hybrid actions of the cyber threats, of vulnerabilities that can be exploited, like in the case of gas suppliers,” said Nicolae-Ionel Ciucă, assuring the Cabinet of the Republic of Moldova of the Romania Government’s complete involvement, devotion and openness for solid cooperation aimed at concrete results, for the benefit of the stability of the Republic of Moldova on its European course and for the citizens’ wellbeing.
