Filat presents Moldovan Government's priorities to European institutions

Prime Minister Vlad Filat familiarized the European institutions with the priorities of the new Government of Moldova, Info-Prim Neo reports, quoting the Government's press service. The September 29-30 working visit to Brussels started with a meeting of the NATO Secretary General Claudio Bisongiero. Speaking about the relations between Moldova and NATO, Vlad Filat highlighted the readiness to develop the cooperation under the Moldova-NATO Individual Partnership Action Plan, which could be extended. For his part, the NATO official said that the Alliance supports Moldova's position of neutrality and considers that the foreign troops should be withdrawn from its territory. At a meeting with his Belgian counterpart, Vlad Filat discussed the possibilities of strengthening the multidimensional bilateral cooperation, negotiating the Association Agreement and opening talks over the liberalization of the visa regime, given that Belgium will take over the presidency of the EU. The meeting of the Moldovan Premier, the Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs and the EU Assistance Director focused on the negative effects of the financial and economic crisis that affected Moldova. The representatives of the European Commission expressed the EU institutions' readiness to provide financial support to Moldova as part of assistance programs and in the form of macro-financial assistance correlated with the support of the International Monetary Fund. The interparliamentary cooperation between Moldova and the EU, including the utilization of the advantages offered by the Eastern Partnership, was the topic discussed by Vlad Filat and the European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek. At the end of the first day in Brussels, the Moldovan Prime Minister participated in the meeting of the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs, where he answered a series of questions.