EU Council’s conclusions are a success of Moldovan Foreign Ministry, APE

The October 25 conclusions on Moldova of the European Council on Foreign Relations are a success of the Moldovan Foreign Ministry that wouldn’t have been possible without the reforms implemented during the last five years, the executive director of the Foreign Policy Association (APE) Victor Chirila said during a new meeting of the Association’s Press Club, Info-Prim Neo reports. According to experts of the APE, the EU has reconfirmed its firm decision to develop the relations with Moldova and continue to provide financial and technical assistance in implementing the reforms that the official Chisinau pledged to carry out. The EU Foreign Ministers tried to convey the message that the strengthening of the relations between Moldova and the European Union is directly proportional to Moldova’s commitment to continue the reforms and the political will to successfully implement the reforms undertaken during the last year. “The European Commission was asked by the EU Foreign Ministers to formulate the directives for opening the talks on the creation of a deep and comprehensive free trade area, as an integral part of the Association Agreement with Moldova. These talks will start immediately after the conditions are fulfilled. The European Commission does not specify what conditions, but besides the technical conditions that the official Chisinau must meet, there will be requirements concerning the political situation in the country,” Victor Chirila said. The expert believes that Moldova could obtain the plan of action for liberalizing the visa regime only after the November 28 early legislative elections, when the structure of the future Government will be clear. Ukraine might obtain it in November. Victor Chirila stressed that on October 25 the EU Council set three main objectives as regards the relations between the EU and Moldova. The first refers to the political association and economic integration into the EU, while the second to the initiation of the operational stage of the dialogue on the liberalization of the visa regime, which is a long-term goal that might be achieved after the Hungarian and Polish EU presidencies of 2011. The last objective is to open the talks on the creation of a deep and comprehensive free trade area, as a component of the Association Agreement. On October 25, the European Council on Foreign Relations adopted a set of conclusions concerning Moldova, inviting the European Commission to draft plan of action for liberalizing the visa regime and creating a deep and comprehensive free trade area. In the meeting of Moldova’s group of EU friends held in Chisinau on September 30, Italian Foreign Minister Fanco Frattini said the Moldovan people might travel visa-free to the EU within 18 months of the obtaining of the roadmap for liberalizing the visa regime. This was the fifth meeting of the Press Club organized by the APE with the support of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Foundation. The project is aimed at improving the dialogue with the journalists who deal with foreign policy issues.