“It is in the common interest to make sure that the situation in Eastern Europe is as predictable and stable as possible. The main role in achieving this objective is played by the Eastern-European countries. They should become more prosperous and should strengthen their resilience to internal and external challenges,” Prime Minister Pavel Filip stated in the Munich Security Conference, IPN reports.
The Premier, alongside Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn, chairman of the Russian State Duma’s International Affairs Committee Konstantin Kosachev and President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, took part in a session of interactive discussions on the country’s development course in geopolitical context and Moldova’s main concerns at foreign level.
Pavel Filip said the current situation in international affairs is most often characterized as unpredictable. This generates lack of confidence in institutions and rules, political confusion and discourages foreign investment, which affects economic growth.
According to the Moldovan Prime Minister, a state of uncertainty persists in Eastern Europe and all the countries from the region face a set of similar problems. The first category includes such internal problems as structural reforms, strengthening of democratic institutions, fight against corruption, reduction of poverty and modernization of infrastructure. The second category of problems is generated by the fact that the main lines of geopolitical division between the East and the West go through Eastern Europe. The third category, which is closely related to the previous one, refers to the relations of each country with Russia. Besides, there is also a fourth category that fuels the general state of uncertainty, which is the lack of a strategic development direction for this region.
“The Republic of Moldova experiences all these problems to different extents, but tries to solve or to diminish them. We are promoting an ambitious reform agenda based on the Association Agreement with the EU,” stated Pavel Filip.
Speaking about Moldova’s relations with Russia, the Premier said these are difficult. “We want to have balanced and friendly relations with Moscow, where our commercial cooperation will not be polarized, while the dialogue will be based on mutual respect,” stated Pavel Filip, noting the relationship should show real wish to help settle the Transnistrian conflict and withdraw the troops and munitions from Moldova’s territory.
