Challenges in the development of Republic of Moldova as a European member are discussed in seminar from Chisinau

The Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Moldova and Latvia, the German Marshall Fund of USA, the Eurasia Foundation are organizing in Chisinau on September 9 a seminary entitled “Moldova and Eastern Europe: reform, integration, conflict solving, regional cooperation”. According to the organizers, the goal of the seminary is to examine certain challenges in the development of the Republic of Moldova as a member of the European family and to identify a strategy for the future. The seminary brings together high officials from the Republic of Moldova and key persons in the decision making and elaboration of policies from the EU, USA, neighboring countries and non-governmental organizations. The seminary has begun with a discussion about the economic development and reforms in Moldova and in the region. The discussion revolved around the economic reforms, attraction of foreign investments and export diversification, strengthening commercial relations with the EU and the chances of signing a free-exchange agreement. The Good Neighboring Politics with the EU and the EU-RM Action Plan, as well as the contribution of these plans to the economic developments of Moldova, will also be discussed. The participants will hold debates on the intentions of the Millennium Challenge Program of the USA and the anticorruption activities taken by this program; the possibility to restructure and cancel the debts of Moldova with the Paris Club. Also the integration of the Republic of Moldova in the European Union and the relations with NATO will be discussed. In the afternoon possible solutions for the Transnistrian conflict and creating a peace plan for the Republic of Moldova will be discussed. At the end of the seminary the regional cooperation will be analyzed, especially in order to assure a tighter cooperation among the Republic of Moldova, Romania and Ukraine, as these countries are the last adjacent regions to EU borders that does not have a cooperation mechanism that will assure regional stability. By the end of the day, the ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Moldova and Latvia, Andrei Stratan and Petras Vaitiekunas, will hold a press conference.