Romania – the Republic of Moldova: a Genuine and Mature Relationship
On Tuesday, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova, Iurie Leanca, paid a surprise visit to Bucharest, the first since his appointment as head of the government in Chisinau.
Valentin Țigău, 10.07.2013, 13:23
On Tuesday, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova, Iurie Leanca, paid a surprise visit to Bucharest, the first since his appointment as head of the government in Chisinau. He met in the Romanian capital his counterpart Victor Ponta, whom he invited to attend on August 27th, the day when the Republic of Moldova celebrates its independence from the USSR, won back in 1991, the start of constructions works on the Iasi — Ungheni gas pipe line, which will link the two neighbouring countries. The European Commissioner for Energy, Guenther Oettinger is expected to attend the event. Prime Minister Iurie Leanca:
“ I am convinced that that the talks we’ve had will allow us to start the building of the Iasi — Ungheni gas pipe line on August 27th, when we celebrate in Chisinau our Independence Day, in the presence of the Romanian Prime Minister and of the EU Commissioner for Energy.”
Besides the energy connection between Romania and the Republic of Moldova, which will provide Moldova with an alternative to the energy sources in the Commonwealth of Independent States, the two officials also discussed the rebuilding of bridges over the Prut River, which were destroyed during WWII. These projects could be analyzed during the next joint meeting of the Romanian and Moldovan governments.
Continuing the tradition of good relations between the two countries, given that 65% of Moldova’s population is Romanian speaking, Prime Ministers Ponta and Leanca agreed that the relations between the two countries must pass from beautiful declarations, which have been plenty in the past 20 years, to concrete things. In another move, the head of the Romanian Government reiterated Romania’s firm support for Moldova’s European integration efforts. Prime Minister Victor Ponta:
The EU summit in Vilnius this fall will be an extremely important moment, and I am absolutely convinced that for the Republic of Moldova, the decisions made by the EU will be the best possible ones.”
At the summit hosted by the capital of Lithuania, the Republic of Moldova hopes to get the EU Association Agreement signed and to start talks for a new stage in the liberalization of visa granting. According to both Iurie Leanca and Victor Potna, the talks in Bucharest were pragmatic and proved the existence of common views that will continue to consolidate the relation between the two neighboring countries.
