“Everything I did for Moldova as Prime Minister and will do as head of state, I will do convinced that we are one people,” Romanian Premier Victor Ponta said in the first televised debates before the second round of the Romanian presidential elections broadcast by the Romanian TV channel “Realitatea”, IPN reports.

Asked what message he would like to send to the voters from over the Prut River, Ponta even tried to contact by phone his Moldovan counterpart Iurie Leanca, but gave up. “Will you allow me to call a friend to help me? Iohannis was today with the president of the European People’s Party in Moldova. I have a very good friend there and I think that Moldova is our most important neighbor,” Ponta stated in the electoral debates.

The Social Democratic Party’s candidate for the Romanian presidency pleaded for strengthening the role of the Romanian state in the South East European states. “Romania must play a more important role for Moldova, Ukraine, Georgia, Serbia and the other states of the Balkans. Our partners should be our friends because Romania is an example for these states in terms of the European integration and the integration into NATO. If we speak about the economic relations, we must find solutions for Romania’s exports to find a market. Romania must find investments for the energy sector and must also enter other markets for exporting the Romanian products there,” stated Ponta.