The President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė, who is in Moldova on a visit, said the two states have a common history and therefore Lithuania supports Moldova on its path of European integration. The European official noted that the Moldovans are a European nation whose place is in Europe. President Nicolae Timofti awarded the Order of the Republic to Dalia Grybauskaitė in gratitude for her constant support for Moldova’s European integration efforts, IPN reports.

In a press briefing after the meeting with Nicolae Timofti, Dalia Grybauskaitė said that several decades ago, all the political parties of Lithuania signed an accord by which they set two desiderata – to obtain the status of member state of NATO for the country and to integrate Lithuania into the EU. After the agreement was signed, all the parties, regardless of their political orientation, worked to achieve these desiderata. Lithuania became a member of the EU and NATO over 10 years ago and the IMF classes now the country as a developed one.

The Lithuanian official said that Moldova can also become integrated into the EU. Everything is in the hands of the Moldovan politicians and the population because nobody has the right to decide the future of this country instead of its residents. The Moldovan political parties can reach an agreement to take the country into the EU.

Nicolae Timofti stated that Lithuania recognized Moldova’s independence the second and ratified the Association Agreement between Moldova and the EU among the first. The results achieved by Lithuania after 2004, when the country became an EU member, are an example for Moldova too, while the Order of the Republic was conferred on Dalia Grybauskaitė in gratitude for her merits in respect of Moldova.

Dalia Grybauskaitė also visited Moldova in July 2011.