“The diplomacy of concrete actions means, among other things, capitalizing on any opportunities to promote our country’s profile abroad, making new friends and making efficient use of multilateral platforms to highlight the bilateral agenda,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Nicu Popescu after meeting his counterparts from 12 countries in Stockholm. The meetings took place on the margins of the 28th OSCE Ministerial Council.
The MFAEI said in a press release that Nicu Popescu spoke with fellow foreign ministers about Moldova’s determination to continue efforts for identifying a comprehensive solution to the Transnistrian conflict based on respect for Moldova’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within internationally recognized borders.
During the meeting with Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu, Nicu Popescu said he is confident that the new roadmap recently signed in Bucharest, in the presence of Presidents Maia Sandu and Klaus Iohannis, will speed up the implementation of concrete infrastructure projects to support Moldova’s irreversible course towards Europe. “We will prepare in the immediate future the meeting of our prime ministers in order to establish point by point the actions to be to carried out together with Romania”, said Nicu Popescu.
With Poland’s Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau, Popescu discussed a wide range of issues stemming from the dynamic nature of the Moldovan-Polish relationship involving political, economic, regional and international cooperation. “Poland’s takeover of the OSCE presidency in 2022 is an excellent opportunity for us to qualitatively promote the settlement of the Transnistrian conflict,” said Popescu.
During the meeting with the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Nicu Popescu received a strong message of support for the reform agenda initiated by the Moldovan government. “Our strategic dialogue is to be strengthened by relaunching the sectoral working groups in the areas of justice and the rule of law, trade and economy, and energy security,” the Moldovan official said.
Moldova participates in multiple regional platforms, including the Organization for Democracy and Economic Development GUAM, whose presidency will be taken over in 2022 by Moldova. In Stockholm, Nicu Popescu participated together with Jeyhun Bayramov, David Zalkaliani and Dmytro Kuleba, the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Ukraine, in a meeting of the GUAM Committee of Foreign Ministers. Moldova’s mandate will coincide with the 25th anniversary of this format of regional cooperation, which is a good opportunity to organize various events, increase the visibility of the organization and revitalize dialogue in this format.
