Slovakia will support Moldova’s integration into the European Union, as well as into other multinational institutions, being the proponent of the belief that the larger the EU gets, the stronger it will become, Slovakian President Ivan Gašparovič stated on Wednesday, June 20, during a joint press conference with his Moldovan counterpart, Vladimir Voronin. The Slovakian head of state said that a country which besides its European aspiration proves the capacity to implement economic and social reforms has all the chances to become in the near future a new member of the EU. In his words, Moldova has to meet all the criteria for EU integration, but on the other side, the European community should not block this progress or impose additional requirements. For his part, Vladimir Voronin expressed his contentment with the state of the bilateral relations between the two countries, mentioning the importance of Slovakia’s European experience for Moldova. In addition, he pointed out that he discussed the implementation stage of the Moldova-EU Action Plan with European officials during his recent visit to Strasbourg. The efforts that Moldova has made in different domains were appreciated, but there are also some shortcomings that have to be redressed by the end of the year, the head of state said. “It is clear for all of us that once the Action Plan expires, Moldova’s European efforts will not be ceased. This has been the first step and it was agreed that the activities towards the European integration would continue, and we are about to see in the course of the next few months what form this activities will take”, President Voronin concluded.