Speaker, Top Lawmakers Invited to Portugal

Moldova's acting president and concurrently Parliament Speaker Mihai Ghimpu will make an official visit, during Feb. 21-23, to Portugal on the invitation of the Portuguese president of parliament, Jaime Gama, Info-Prim Neo reports. The Moldovan delegation also consists of a number of top lawmakers: Senior Deputy Speaker Serafim Urechean; Lib-Dem faction leader Mihai Godea; Liberal faction leader Ion Hadarca; and the chairman of the parliamentary commission for foreign policy and European integration, Democrat Igor Corman. The visit program includes a number of meetings between President Mihai Ghimpu with high-ranking Portuguese officials, including Jaime Gama, Portuguese President Aníbal Cavaco Silva, Prime Minister Jose Socrates, Foreign Minister Luis Amado, etc. Mihai Ghimpu will also meet with the Moldovan diaspora. The official meetings will address issues concerning bilateral relations and Moldova's European integration aspirations, it was said in a press release from the parliamentary press service, quoted by Info-Prim Neo.