President Maia Sandu said that after a long period of cold relations, Chisinau and Bucharest are returning to “fraternal and open relations” and are starting a new stage of cooperation, working together to achieve common goals.
The statements were made during a joint press conference with Romanian President Klaus Werner Johannis, deschide.md reports.
“In 2021, the Republic of Moldova has always felt Romania’s shoulder which helped us to overcome crises more easily, but also to start building a better future. Thanks to Romania and as a result of the discussions I had with you in December in Chisinau, Moldova received the first donation of the COVID-19 vaccine. The donation allowed us to start the vaccination process in early March and save thousands of lives,” Sandu said.
The head of state referred to the assistance that Romania is offering in the fight against COVID-19, in the fight against the consequences of the 2020 drought when the Bucharest authorities allocated 6,000 tons of diesel fuel to Moldovan farmers as humanitarian aid, as well as support in overcoming the energy crisis, when the Romanian government was there to help by offering fuel oil to produce thermal energy.
“On behalf of all citizens of the Republic of Moldova, I thank you for this significant support. Romania has been and remains our strong supporter in the economic, political, diplomatic, cultural and educational fields. Our citizens from all regions feel your support: national-level kindergartens and houses of culture renovated or built from scratch; school buses donated by Romania; cultural programs, academic exchanges, media and civil society support. Together we celebrated the 100th anniversary of the National Theater in Chisinau highlighting thereby the cultural, historical and linguistic unity between our countries,” the president said.
“Today I am in Bucharest to reaffirm this consistent relationship between our countries and set new goals for bilateral cooperation. In this regard, I would like to welcome the fact that today the foreign ministers of our countries signed a new Roadmap on priority areas of cooperation between the Republic of Moldova and Romania. Thus, we are witnessing the relaunch of several strategic projects. I also welcome the signing by the Ministers of Education of the Agreement on the Mutual Recognition of Diplomas, Certificates and Academic Ranks. This is a document that graduates from the Republic of Moldova have been long waiting for,” Sandu said.
Maia Sandu added that very good cooperation has been established between the Republic of Moldova and Romania and that the authorities of both states are very open so that these relations will benefit the citizens.
“We are well positioned to build a lasting and mutually beneficial partnership that will help us overcome the health crisis and the pandemic-related economic crisis, provide solutions to people’s problems, create opportunities for growth and bring us closer together. From now on, we count on Romania’s support at the bilateral level, as well as on its important voice in the European Union.
European integration is the main goal of the Republic of Moldova, which we can achieve with the support of our friends in Bucharest. The strategic partnership for European integration between the Republic of Moldova and Romania will help us to achieve this goal faster in the interests of our citizens. We are at a politically unique moment in Chisinau, and from Bucharest we have a strong message of support for the Republic of Moldova. There are all the prerequisites for achieving historical results in our relations and for the coming years to become the best and most successful in relations between our countries,” concluded Sandu.
Recall, the President of the Republic of Moldova Maia Sandu is on an official visit to Romania today at the invitation of his colleague from Bucharest Klaus Iohannis.
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