Norway to provide assistance to Moldova in human rights and legal cooperation

Norway will start assistance projects for strengthening the human rights protection and legal cooperation in Moldova. This statement was made by Leif A. Ulland, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway to Moldova, with the headquarters in Bucharest, at a meeting with Valeriu Ostalep, deputy-minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration. The project that will be launched after the signing of a Memorandum Agreement between the governments of the both countries could last 2-3 years and includes assistance provided by a group of Norwegian experts to the national public institutions. A special attention will be paid to the strengthening of the rule of law by increasing the efficiency of the judicial power and of the legal bodies. Also, the two officials tackled the topic of visas. Deputy-minister Valeriu Ostalep reiterated the request to start negotiations with the Norwegian party in order to facilitate the visa regime, mentioning that the signing of the Bilateral Agreement on readmission in July 2006 and the recent progress in the dialogue with the EU are favourable premises in this respect. Norway is the second country in the list of donors per capita, following Denmark.