Bucharest – Chisinau Cooperation

Interconnecting the infrastructure of Moldova and Romania helps diversify the energy market and facilitate citizen mobility.

Corina Cristea, 29.08.2013, 12:48

The dialogue between Bucharest and Chisinau has strengthened recently, both thanks to the visit made by Prime Minister of Romania Victor Ponta to Chisinau, and to the presence of the Moldovan Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration at the annual meeting of the Romanian diplomacy. The main topics of discussion are not new, and they mostly revolve around the support given by Bucharest to the neighbouring country’s efforts to join the European Union.

“Romania supports a speedy completion of the procedural steps allowing the signature of the Association Agreement between the EU and the Republic of Moldova in 2014,” the head of the Romanian diplomacy Titus Corlatean told his Moldovan counterpart Natalia Gherman. The two officials have in fact analysed a number of measures suggested by Bucharest in this respect. The Romanian Minister pleaded for the acknowledgement of the undeniable progress made by Chisinau in implementing the EU Action Plan for visa lifting and for a favourable decision as soon as possible. In order to encourage Moldova’s EU accession efforts, this autumn the bilateral inter-governmental commission for the European integration of the Republic of Moldova will hold a new meeting.

Meanwhile, Chisinau is the main beneficiary of the development assistance programmes of Bucharest, receiving 30% of the total payments under these programmes. This year, eight projects totalling 620,000 euros are to be launched, while 14 other projects, worth about 2.7 million euros, are currently underway. In addition, Romania runs assistance programmes addressing the Republic of Moldova in the form of education grants, know-how exchanges, training, consulting, and the provision of equipment and materials required for the successful implementation of various projects.

While Moldova’s relations with Romania have substantially strengthened in the past 4 years, when top-level officials made over 60 bilateral visits, new support messages must continue to come from Romania and other EU member countries, so as to consolidate the Moldovan society around the EU accession project, Moldova’s Foreign Minister said. Natalia Gherman also spoke about the construction works on the Iasi-Ungheni gas pipeline, launched early this week in the presence of the two prime ministers, an endeavour that she described as “a declaration of energy independence on the part of the Republic of Moldova.”