A Romania-Moldova Mass Media Consultative Council was launched in Bucharest on February 29. The Council aims to create an institutional framework for implementing the joint communication area between Romania and Moldova and will be an important element for transposing the European norms to Moldova, IPN reports.

The Council is an initiative of the Department for Policies on Relations with Romanians Everywhere. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania, the Council aims to contribute to the development of the bilateral cooperation opportunities in the mass media sector. Thus, the Council is to work out regulations that will ensure the implementation of join good practice norms.

In the inauguration of the Council, Minister Delegate for Relations with Romanians Everywhere Dan Stoenescu said the information in the common information area between Romania and Moldova will travel freely on both sides of the Prut. “The provision of a gratuitous regime to the Moldovan media for news flows will facilitate not only the presence of news in the Romanian language, but also of news that present the realities in Romania and the European Union, from an undistorted perspective of anti-European interests,” stated the minister.

Attending the event, Moldova’s Ambassador to Romania Mihai Gribincea voiced hope that the Council will submit concrete proposals for the authorities from both sides of the Prut so as to facilitate the entry of the Romanian mass media in the area between the Prut and Nistru. The Council will play an important role now that the information area in Moldova is dominated by Russian media outlets.

The members of the Consultative Council are representatives of mass media information channels from both of the countries, members of civil society and communication experts. The Council will meet in turn in Bucharest and in Chisinau.