The visit paid by the President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso to Chisinau will strengthen the relations between the Republic of Moldova and the European Union and will firmly place Moldova on the map of Europe, in Europe’s heart and in the family of Europe, to which we belong, Prime Minister Vlad Filat said Friday in his speech delivered at the National Palace before the European official’s speech, Info-Prim Neo reports. Vlad Filat stated that Moldova chose Europe because it no longer wants to look at the Communist past with nostalgia as it wants to go on. “Every country, every people has the right and especially the responsibility to choose the future. We, here in Moldova, chose the path to European integration. For us, the Moldovan people, the European Union is not only an aspiration, a dream or an abstract idea. It is not a choice between the East and the West, as some say. The European Union is a vision that we realize here, in Moldova, and that we will build step by step,” said the Premier. He also said that Moldova is now closer than ever to the EU and will become part of the European family if it works hard. “We will manage to build a prosperous Moldova only by work and dedication,” stressed Vlad Filat. The President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso is in Chisinau on a two-day official visit that ends on Friday afternoon.