President optimistic about Moldova-EU future relations

The Republic of Moldova will not fall behind and the term of Moldova-EU Action Plan will not be extended, Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin stated at his traditional year-end press conference. Voronin hopes that the Moldova-EU relationship will enter a new stage of development by the end of February, when the Individual Action Plan expires. Voronin said that these issues have been discussed during his recent visit to Brussels and that plans for future relations are now under preparation. As the President stated, almost all the commitments concerning the adoption of laws under the Action Plan have been fulfilled. There are still certain defaults, which exist in EU states and aspirant members too, as regards democracy, human rights, freedom of press, fight against corruption, and others, said the head of state, adding that efforts continue to be made in order to rectify these weaknesses. The Moldova-EU Action Plan was signed in 2005 for a term of three years. National and foreign experts alike have said that Moldova made significant steps forward in implementing the Action Plan, yet there is still much work to be done to put the adopted laws into practice.