The Republic of Moldova counts on France’s support in making it possible to open EU accession negotiations by the end of this year, stated Nicu Popescu, Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, during a meeting in Paris with his French counterpart, Catherine Colonna. The Moldovan official expressed gratitude for the support offered by France in organizing the European Political Community Summit in Moldova earlier this month.

During discussions with Sébastien Lecornu, France’s Minister of Armed Forces, Nicu Popescu offered Moldova’s appreciation for the cooperation in the field of security during the European Political Community Summit and addressed bilateral partnership matters.

The Moldovan diplomat welcomed the relaunch of the political dialogue at the parliamentary level and expressed the Moldova’s interest in moving forward on signing social protection agreements, the agreement on the conversion of driving licenses and the acceleration of France’s ratification of the tax convention on the avoidance of double taxation. This was mentioned during a meeting with Yaël Braun-Pivet, the president of the National Assembly, but also with deputies from the France- Moldova friendship group.

In Paris, Popescu offered two orders of great importance, signed by the president of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu. The Order of Honor was presented to Jean-Yves Le Drian, former French Foreign Minister, and Amélie de Montchalin, who held various key positions in the French government, including that of Secretary of State for European Affairs.

The Moldovan official had a meeting with Jean-François Rapin, the president of the European Affairs Commission in the French Senate, and also with Emmanuel Puisais-Jauvin, the Secretary General for European Affairs in the French Government, with whom he discussed the European course of the Republic of Moldova and the progress in the implementation of the European reform agenda.

In Paris, Nicu Popescu also had a meeting with a group of compatriots living in France.