Romania to provide consular assistance to Moldovans in Syria

Iurie Leanca, Moldova's Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, signed an agreement on Thursday with his Romanian counterpart Titus Corlatean on consular assistance and protection in Syria. “The signed document is very important for us because it concerns the consular assistance Romania may provide to our citizens in Syria through its mission in Damascus”, Iurie Leanca said during a press conference, Info-Prim Neo reports. According to the Deputy PM, the Romanian Minister’s visit in Moldova fits within the policies of support for Moldova’s reforms and process of European integration. The bilateral meeting touched upon a series of issues regarding political dialogue, the economic sphere and topics related to the connecting of Moldova’s and Romania’s energy systems. Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Titus Corlatean described the visit in Chisinau as the expression of a political relationship of strategic partnership and cooperation. The work agenda includes issues related to economic cooperation that were established during discussions between the two governments, with a focus on projects of interconnecting pipes and electric networks. “We discusses about the collaboration between different ministries from both sides of the Prut. The Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is still focused on creating the joint work groups convened upon and the implementation of these projects. There is one more recent project, but very important, which deals with emergency medical care”, said Titus Corlatean. As regards the signed agreement, the Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs said that Moldovan citizens in Syria will have access to direct consular assistance from the Romanian state. Romania is one of the few European countries that maintained a form of consular diplomatic mission in Syria, because of the Romanian community there and it’s the government’s duty to provide assistance in the extreme conditions of a bloody conflict with an increasing toll of victims. The same assistance will be offered to Moldovan citizens. Titus Corlatean added that Romanian authorities would continue to provide all the necessary support to Moldova regarding the Agreement of Association with the EU. “There is no meeting in the EU where Romania and other partners don’t bring to the attention of European political powers these legitimate and justified goals, as Moldova is recognized in the EU as being ahead of the Eastern Partnership group thanks to its internal reform-related performance and to the professionalism of negotiation teams. In this regard the Romanian side offers its full support”, said Titus Corlatean. According to the Romanian officials, Moldova’s performance justifies the intention to join the European Union. The clearly positive message of German Chancellor Angela Merkel to the Moldovan government shows an auspicious mindset on the EU side. Titus Corlatean visited Moldova on September 13 on the invitation of his opposite number Iurie Leanca. This is the Romanian official’s first visit to Chisinau as head of the Romanian diplomacy.