Romania will continue to stand by Moldova at the European level in terms of negotiations for accession to the European Union, and also in concrete aspects of economic development, infrastructure consolidation and energy security, Romania’s Foreign Minister Luminita Odobescu said on Tuesday in Chisinau, Moldova.

The head of the Romanian diplomacy co-chaired the fifth ministerial conference of the Moldova Support Platform.

She said that the Support Platform was created to support Moldova both financially and sectorally, seriously affected by the consequences of the war waged by Russia in Ukraine.

„We have managed in this format, through the four ministerial conferences and through the activity of the platform’s working groups, to mobilise important resources to support the Republic of Moldova. Thus, through their own consistent effort and with support from international partners, the pro-European officials in Chisinau managed to speed up the implementation of a wide range of reforms,” Odobescu told a news conference after the meeting.

At the same time, she added, the authorities „have efficiently and responsibly managed the series of crises generated by the wave of refugees, the disruptions of trade and transport chains that have led to economic contraction and, obviously, to the use by the Russian Federation of energy resources as a geopolitical weapon, and lately to cope with targeted hybrid attacks from Moscow.”

She pointed to exceptional results in relation to the Moldova’s resources and the difficulty of the situation in which it has been since the beginning of the Russian aggression against Ukraine.

According to the minister, Moldova „is today in a better position, strengthened in all aspects, as against the moment when the support platform was established.”

She also mentioned the transformation of the Moldova Support Platform – initiated by the foreign ministers of Romania, France and Germany in 2022 – into the Moldova Partnership Platform.

„In particular, in order to adapt to the current stage of reforms in the Republic of Moldova and the negotiation process for accession to the European Union, we have also decided together on changes in the format of the working groups, which would provide the Republic of Moldova with better targeted technical support for a rapid advancement of the reform and negotiation process for accession to the European Union,” said Odobescu.

Part of the ministerial conference was issuing a joint statement of the foreign ministers of Romania, France, Germany and Moldova reconfirming the important role of this cooperation format and the joint commitment to supporting Moldova’s European integration process, as well as its efforts of economic development and resilience building.

Odobescu and the other attending ministers were welcomed by Moldova’s President Maia Sandu. She had separate meetings with Moldova’s Prime Minister Dorin Recean and Moldova’s Foreign Minister Mihail Popoi.

On the sidelines of the ministerial conference, the head of the Romanian diplomacy had brief meetings with her counterparts from France and Germany, as well as with the UK Minister for Europe.

Odobescu also had a brief exchange of views with the USAID Assistant Administrator for Europe and Eurasia Erin McKee on strengthening bilateral cooperation in support of Moldova, including by coordinating the assistance efforts of the two sides. A joint commitment for funding and building an overhead power line for the Romania- Moldova interconnection between Gutina and Straseni was reconfirmed.

AGERPRES