Visits of 2012, Info-Prim Neo retrospective

[Article of the series “Year 2012: figures and facts”] [– January 31:] Cristian Diaconescu, the new Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania, who was invested on January 24, paid an official visit to Moldova. It was the first official visit since he took up his duties. The discussions centered mainly on the analysis of the priorities of the bilateral cooperation and its development in the context of the strategic European integration objective of Moldova. [– February 3:] Ambassador Erwan Fouéré, OSCE Special Representative for the Settlement of the Transnistrian Conflict, had a meeting with the Moldovan authorities and Transnistrian leaders. It was the first visit to the region paid by Erwan Fouéré as OSCE Special Representative. The ambassador had meetings with Prime Minister Vlad Filat, the Transnistrian leader Yevgeny Shevchuk and the Chief Negotiators Eugen Carpov and Nina Shtanski. [– February 27:] European Commissioner for Trade Karel De Gucht came to Moldova in order to open the talks on the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area with the EU. The visit took place before the round of talks of March 19-23. [– March 13-16:] OSCE High Commissioner for National Minorities Knut Vollebaek paid a visit to Moldova to discuss issues related to integration, education, language and the situation in Gagauzia. The Commissioner focused especially on the Government’s strategy for integrating the national minorities and assessed the progress made in the multilingual education and on the cooperation between Chisinau and Tiraspol on education-related matters. [– April 2-5:] President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Jean-Claude Mignon paid an official visit to Chisinau. He had a bilateral meeting with Speaker Marian Lupu, President Nicolae Timofti, and Prime Minister Vlad Filat. He also traveled to Tiraspol. [– April 25-26:] Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Azubalis made a working visit to Chisinau at the invitation of his Moldovan counterpart Iurie Leanca. [– April 26-27:] President Nicolae Timofti met with the Moldovan diaspora in Belgium and Belgian officials. The visit to Brussels was the first trip of President Nicolae Timofti after his investiture. [– May 3:] President Nicolae Timofti had a meeting with his Romanian counterpart Traian Basescu in Bucharest’s. The official visit to Romania is the second trip abroad of the Moldovan head of state after his investiture. He also met with the chairwoman of the Chamber of Deputies Roberta Anastase, chairman of the Senate Vasile Blaga and Patriarch of the Orthodox Romanian Church, His Holiness Daniel. [– May 11:] President Nicolae Timofti paid a working visit to Kiev at the invitation of his Ukrainian counterpart Victor Yanukovich. [– May 14-16:] Vlad Filat made an official visit to Israel at the invitation of his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu. Within it, it was decided to open an Honorific Consulate in Jerusalem. [– May 21-23:] A delegation of the Parliament of Sweden had paid a working visit to Moldova within the parliamentary cooperation program between Sweden and Moldova. [– May 29-30:] German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development Dirk Niebel had been in Moldova on a visit. [– June 18-22:] Head of Parliament Marian Lupu made an official visit to the U.S. He had bilateral meetings with the President of the Chamber of Representatives John Boehner and Deputy Secretary Of State Philip Gordon, the administration of the National Democratic Institution and of the International Republican Institute. The Speaker also met with representatives of the Moldovan diaspora in the U.S. [– June 27-July 6:] Mayor of Chisinau Dorin Chirtoaca had taken part in the Forum of Mayors held in Beijing, China. In the forum themed “Sustainable Development of Towns”, he delivered a speech on the durable development of Chisinau municipality. [– August 22:] German Chancellor Angela Merkel paid her first visit to Moldova. She had meetings with senior officials and gave a public speech. The Chancellor said that Moldova’s citizens can be proud of the path covered by the country during the last few years owing to the progress made in modernizing the country. [– September 9-11:] Speaker Marian Lupu had been in Hungary’s Budapest on a visit. He was invited by the chairman of the National Assembly of Hungary László Kövér. While in Budapest, Marian Lupu and the Moldovan delegation had meetings with President János Áder, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Foreign Minister János Martonyi, and the head of the National Assembly‘s Foreign Affairs Commission Mihaly Balla. [– September 11:] Prime Minister Vlad Filat paid an official visit to Russia. State Duma chairman Sergey Naryshkin, who met Vlad Filat in Moscow, said that Moldova is for Russia a equal and respected partner. The two officials discussed the development of the Moldovan-Russian relations and the Transnistrian conflict. [– September 19-21:] The Representative of the Irish OSCE Presidency, Minister for European Affairs Lucinda Creighton came to Moldova to discuss OSCE commitment in Moldova. [– September 27:] President Nicolae Timofti took part in the 67th session of the UN General Assembly in the U.S. He met with high-ranking U.S. officials and Moldovans who settled in the United States or study there. [– October 22-23:] Minister of Justice Oleg Efrim took part in the 2012 EU – Moldova Forum in Berlin. He delivered a discourse and answered the participants’ in the round of debates on the reform of the justice and internal affairs system in Moldova. [– November 1-2:] Prime Minister Vlad Filat made an official visit to Turkey, accompanied by six ministers and the Governor of Gagauzia Mihail Formuzal. There were signed seven documents on cooperation in different areas. [– November 16-17:] Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who came to Chisinau, and Prime Minister Vlad Filat agreed to open a Russian consulate in Balti. [– November 21-23:] Speaker Marian Lupu paid a visit to Saint Petersburg, where he took part in the 38th plenary meeting of the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly. [– November 29-30:] President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso came to Moldova for the first time, at the initiation of Prime Minister Vlad Filat. He had meetings with all the senior officials and delivered a public speech. The European official said that Moldova has prospects of joining the EU, but the Moldovans must cover the path to European integration step by step and to implement the initiated reforms. [–December 3:] Polish President Bronisław Komorowski paid his first visit to Moldova. He had a bilateral meeting with President Nicolae Timofti and took part in the opening of the Buysiness Forum. He was conferred the Title of Doctor Honoris Causa. [– December 10-12:] Prime Minister Vlad Filat made an official visit to Qatar. It was the first visit by a Moldovan Premier to the Persian Gulf. He had meeting with Emir Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jaber Al-Thani and other Qatari officials. It was agreed to open a Moldovan consulate in Doha