”We underlined the importance our group pays to the Eastern Partnership and the relations with our neighbour Moldova. We met with Prime Minister Vlad Filat, the Chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party, which belongs to the EPP family and the representatives of all democratic parties,” said Mr Hökmark, the EPP Group Vice-President responsible for the Enlargement and the Eastern Neighbourhood Policy. He also assessed reform efforts carried out by the governmental Allliance for the European Integration: ”The Pro-European Government aims to tackle the post-Communist legacy in the country, we saw determination of all democratic parties to carry out further necessary reforms that gives the Republic of Moldova the European perspective. The implementation of the Action Plan for Visa Liberatilastion is under way and I am convinced that the formal negotiations on the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement will start this year.”
Monica Macovei MEP, the Chairwoman of the European Parliament Delegation to the Republic of Moldova, said: ”We see once again that the Republic of Moldova is a frontrunner of the Eastern Partnership. I trust that the progress achieved by the current government will be duly reflected in the Neighbourhood Policy Review soon to be published. It is necessary that the Commission and the Council recognise the merit based approach and the achievements already carried out. The pace of reforms in Moldova places the country on a par with some Western Balkan states that have already received the candidate status for EU Membership.”
The EPP Group Delegation held consultations with the Prime Minister Vlad Filat, Leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, Marian Lupu, Acting President and the Speaker of the Parliament, Iurie Leanca, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, Oleg Efrim, Minister of Justice, Natalia Gherman, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chief Negotiator for EU, Dumitru Diacov, leader of the Democrat faction in Parliament, Mihai Ghimpu, Leader of the Liberal Party as well as with the EU and EU Member states Ambassadors.