N. GHERMAN: It’s a reason for joy that this is the first visit of the Foreign Minister of the Hellenic Republic to the Republic of Moldova. And secondly, Mr. Venizelos is visiting us, visiting our country, in another capacity as well, as the Hellenic Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
So in other words he is also representing the Greek chairmanship in the Council of the European Union, today in the Republic of Moldova. For us, that means a lot, since we’ve had the happy occasion to coordinate with my counterpart, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Hellenic Republic, the European agenda of the Republic of Moldova, in order to synchronize the calendar, the timetable of the events the Greek chairmanship and the Moldovan Republic decided to undertake.
And here, first of all, I mean the entering into effect of the decision on the liberalization of the visa regime for the citizens of the Republic of Moldova. We are very well aware that today this decision was published in the official gazette of the European Union. And on the 28th of April, this decision will come into effect.
So I would like to express my most sincere gratitude to my colleagues from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the other institutions of the Hellenic Republic for this significant contribution to the success of the decision-making process.
We also made reference to the perspective of signing in the near future, even within the Hellenic Presidency of the Council of the European Union, of the Association Agreement between the Republic of Moldova and the European Union.
So this event, again, will be celebrated jointly with the Hellenic Republic, which will still have the chairmanship of the Council of the European Union. We do hope very much that this chairmanship will become a very good benchmark, a very positive, a very significant benchmark in fulfilling our national European integration project.
The Memorandum that we have signed with my Greek colleague assumes a synchronization of actions between Moldova and Greece, in order to ensure the success of the European perspective of our country. And of course it also assumes taking over the experience in the field of European integration. So, experience from the counterpart institutions of Greece.
I’d like to thank, so much, my counterpart the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece for his availability to offer this great experience and this partnership to the Republic of Moldova.
Within the discussion we have also appreciated the very fast pace of the bilateral visits, the bilateral contacts at all levels. We have analyzed the current state of things with the economic relationship. We have put special emphasis on identifying new ways and mechanisms in order to diversify the energy sources for both states.
Obviously, we also discussed aspects related to bilateral cooperation in the humanitarian field. We have very good relations in the field of education, culture. We have also common traditions and heritage, which we are very proud of.
On this occasion, I would like to point out that I have expressed my thanks to the Hellenic government for offering to the citizens of the Republic of Moldova a number of scholarships in different educational institutions in Greece, including the military training field.
And on the multilateral plane, we have also approached our common agenda within different international organizations, within regional structures, where we have a very good collaboration of mutual understanding.
A positive factor in developing bilateral relations between the Republic of Moldova and Greece is the diaspora. And from this point of view we have been discussing with Mr. Venizelos the possibility to improve mechanisms to support the co-nationals established in the Republic of Moldova and in Greece.
I do believe that all these ideas, all these initiatives will be transposed in some concrete, specific bilateral projects within the future joint intergovernmental committee – Moldova-Hellenic – that we envisage organizing in the coming period.
And in summary, I would like to point out that this visit is a very important one for us as well as a very productive one. I do hope that the Hellenic delegation, Mr. Minister, could feel this day the hospitality of our people. However, I also hope you have felt a sort of brotherhood feeling of citizens of the Republic of Moldova with Greece and the Greek population.
I would also like to draw your attention, dear colleagues, to the text of the joint declaration that we have approved today, with my counterpart, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece, which covers quite a number of fields that we mentioned earlier, and which confirms our common, joint objective for the future.
Thank you so much for your attention. Now I would like to kindly offer the floor to Mr. Venizelos.
E. VENIZELOS: I want to thank my dear colleague, Mrs. Gherman, for her warm welcome. It’s a great pleasure and honor for me to be here on this first official visit of a Greek Foreign Minister here, to the Republic of Moldova, in the capital city of Chisinau. As you know, I am here in my double capacity. First of all in my capacity as Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the Hellenic Republic.
Between the two countries, there are very strong historical, cultural, geographical and moral ties and links. As you know, for us Moldova, and especially the city of Chisinau, is an integral part of our national history, because this city was the starting point of our national revolution, proclaimed by Alexandros Ypsilantis, here in Moldova.
Our bilateral relations are excellent, but our common intention and joint willingness is to endorse our cooperation in different areas. First of all, our financial and commercial cooperation, through our private sector, through the endorsement of our entrepreneur community to act here in Moldova as foreign direct investors in different fields.
Another very important area, not only for economic but also for political and geopolitical reasons, is the field of energy. We have many things to do together in order to establish new pipelines, new resources, always within the principle of the necessary diversification of energy sources and routes, in order to protect the safety of supply, and also in order to offer better prices for our citizens.
The signing of our memorandum of understanding is very important not only bilaterally, but also on the European level, because the main purpose of this memorandum is the transfer of our knowledge and experience for the European preparation of the Republic of Moldova. For us, for Greece, but also for the Council of the European Union, the endorsement of the European aspirations and the European choices of Moldova is something very important.
I am here also as the current President of the Council of the European Union, which is my European, temporary capacity, in order to declare our commitment to support this European aspiration.
For us, bilaterally and also on the European level, the respect of the national sovereignty of the Republic of Moldova, the respect of the territorial integrity and also of the principle of the inviolability of the existing borders is a matter of principle, is the basis of our policy.
We understand very well the sensitivities, the historical memories and the awareness of the Moldovan people, and we are ready to cooperate with the Moldovan government in order to protect the regional stability and also the region peace.
We consider the Republic of Moldova not only part of the Eastern Neighbourhood of the European Union, but also part of our Balkan peninsula, because we share the same historical course and also the same geographical and cultural background. And Greece, as a Balkan, Orthodox country is ready to understand very well the situation here in the Republic of Moldova, and also the messages from the domestic public opinion about the needs of civil society here in Moldova.
I am here in in order to celebrate, together with my counterparts, and also with the government of Moldova, a very important event. A big change concerning the status of Moldova, through the liberalization of visas. And we are ready to welcome, on the 28th of April, in Athens, a Moldovan mission, led by the Prime Minister himself, in order to present the necessary evidences and proofs about the situation and the free movement of the citizens of Moldova after the liberalization of the status of visas.
After this event, after this big change, our next target is now to prepare and to sign the Association Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Moldova during the semester of the Greek Presidency of the Council of the European Union – namely, by the end of June.
The Association Agreement is the solid institutional framework of our cooperation, between the European Union and the Republic of Moldova. From the European point of view, the stability of the local institutions, the establishment of a high-quality judiciary, the perpetual fight against corruption, and also the business-friendly environment here in Moldova is something very important for the perspective of our bilateral relationships on the European level, between the EU and the Republic of Moldova.
My visit – this is my final assessment – for me and for the Greek delegation, is an excellent and unique opportunity to better know and understand the situation here, and it is an excellent opportunity to underline our common willingness to go ahead together as partners.
Thank you very much.
- JOURNALIST: The Hellenic chairmanship of the Council of the European Union was set up in the last year. I just wanted to know whether its agenda was modified somehow due to the escalation of the situation in Ukraine, and which way this agenda might impact the benchmarks for the Republic of Moldova.
- E. VENIZELOS: The agenda of the Greek Presidency, the agenda of the Council, as you know, according to the European legislation, the rotating Presidency is always responsible for the Presidency of the Council under all the other configurations, with the exception of the configuration of the Council of Foreign Affairs.
- Especially for foreign policy, the permanent Presidency, held by the High Representative, is always responsible for the agenda of the Council. But without doubt, as the European Union, and especially as the Council of Foreign Affairs, we consider the ongoing crisis in Ukraine as the main theme of this period. And our decision and our willingness is to organize a comprehensive and consolidated reassessment of our foreign policy from this point of view – from the point of view of this ongoing crisis.
JOURNALIST: This question is for both ministers of foreign affairs. After the signing of this memorandum of cooperation, what exactly is going to happen – concretely, specifically? What exactly can we borrow from the Greek experience from this point of view?
E. VENIZELOS: A very frank and tangible target is to finalize the procedure for the signing of the Association Agreement. We have the political will, but we also need the relevant technical preparation. We must translate the text into all the official languages of the European Union, and also we must prepare the necessary procedures. The first application, the first implementation, of this memorandum is the acceleration of this procedure, because, I repeat, our willingness and our decision is to finalize this decision by the end of our Presidency.
N. GHERMAN: I’d also like to add something to what Minister Venizelos mentioned. To the Republic of Moldova this means setting up a very pragmatic partnership, a very practical partnership in terms of transferring experience in this field of European integration – transfer of knowledge from the Hellenic Republic to the Republic of Moldova.
Through this document, the Greek institutions, but also the Moldovan ones, will start cooperating in a most open and most direct way in order to continue this process of harmonization of the legislation of the Republic of Moldova to bring it into line with the standards and the norms of the European Union, in order to strengthen our institutions, following the model implemented in the Hellenic Republic, but also to get prepared to implement all the provisions of the Association Agreement and the […] developed between the Republic of Moldova and the European Union. Always, the best practice, the best method, is to learn from people that have already passed this way, already gone through these procedures, and which are available to share these experiences with the ones which are just at the very start of this path towards European accession.
With Greece, we do really have history that goes back centuries: partnership, interaction, understanding, common heritage, common perception of life; also cultural affinities, historical links, which from our point of view represent a very good precondition for cooperation in developing a modern European partnership. We do cooperate also in the region structures, in the extended area of the Black Sea. We share the same values, the same objectives, and this synergy of tools and mechanisms that we are developing in our bilateral relationship – all these tools are being directed in order to support the process of European integration of the Republic of Moldova.
Everything depends now on the will, interest, priorities of the institutions from both states. The Ministers of Foreign Affairs will oversee, will supervise, will coordinate this process, for sure. Minister Venizelos is also the Deputy Prime Minister in the government of Greece, so in this way he will also have the opportunity to coordinate these attempts on the national stage, exactly as I am going to do in our own country. We will for sure meet again, systematically, to assess the process that we are launching today. We will focus on a number of objectives – very concrete, very specific and clearly defined objectives. I am absolutely convinced that this document will structure in a much better and in a very practical way the excellent cooperation that we already encounter with Greece.
E. VENIZELOS: Greece is a very old member of the European Union, from 1980, and this is the fifth Greek Presidency of the Council of the European Union since the Greek accession to the European family. We have a very long experience, and we are ready to transfer this experience to the Moldovan government in order to accelerate the preparation of your country.
Let me note and underline that we also have a very long historical experience from the status of Associated Member, because Greece was, after the creation of the European Communities during the 1950s, the first Associated Member of the European Union. We signed our Association Agreement with the European Communities in 1960. Thanks to this very long historical and practical experience, we are ready to cooperate with you, because for us it is a historical duty and also a political pleasure to cooperate with the government and the authorities and the public administration of the Republic of Moldova for the modernization of the state and also for the preparation of the necessary public and private structures for the fulfilment of your European aspirations.
mfa.gr
9/4/14
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