The Moldovan authorities aim to strengthen the economic cooperation with the Swedish partners. Sweden became a new market for Moldova fruit and vegetables and the first apples from Moldova are already on shelves in Swedish stores, said Deputy Prime Minister Nicu Popescu, Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration. “Sweden is also among the most important donors for our country and we are hopeful that this cooperation will continue in the future,” the official stated in a meeting with his Swedish counterpart Tobias Billström in Stockholm, IPN reports.

As Sweden holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, which is coming to an end, Nicu Popescu thanked his counterpart for all the support offered to Moldova in the period. During Sweden’s Presidency, Moldova sent its first contributions to the EU’s enlargement report. “At the end, I thanked my Swedish counterpart for the assistance provided in organizing the second European Political Community Summit, which showed that we have all the resources needed to accelerate the process of joining the European Union,” stated Nicu Popescu, being quoted in a press release of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.



One day earlier, Deputy Premier Nicu Popescu paid a visit to Brussels, where he had a number of important meetings, including with the Director-General of the EU’s Directorate-General for Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations Gert Jan Koopman with whom he discussed the significant progress made by Moldova in implementing the nine recommendations formulated by the European Commission.

Also in Brussels, the Moldovan official met with the Secretary General of the European Commission Ilze Juhansone, Secretary General of the Council of the EU Thérèse Blanchet and the Head of Cabinet of the President of the European Commission Bjorn Seibert.

“At the end of the visit, I took part in a public event staged by the Center for European Policy in which I spoke about the importance of stimulating the Republic of Moldova’s joining of the European Union given that our country has made significant progress in implementing the nine recommendations. I told this also to a number of heads of diplomatic missions in Brussels, with whom I had a productive discussion about the Republic of Moldova,” said Nicu Popescu.