Romania will continue to be the main supporter of the Republic of Moldova at the level of the European Union, making available the experience gained as a member state and providing political and diplomatic support, declared, on Thursday, the interim Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan after the discussions with the new Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova, Vasile Tofan, who was on an official visit to Bucharest.
The discussions focused on the stage of implementation of joint projects with a special focus on interconnection in the fields of transport and energy, highlighting that the specialists from Bucharest and Chisinau are coordinating to find the best solutions to overcome the difficulties generated by the current security context.
“We have both a crisis in the field of electricity and one in the field of fuels. We discussed the construction of two new 400 kilovolt interconnection lines, Suceava-Bălți and Gutinaș-Strășeni. The Romanian Government approved in the spring the decision to declare the part of the Romanian territory as a project of national importance regarding the electricity transmission network,” Bolojan said.
Regarding transport infrastructure, the interim prime minister mentioned the completion, by the end of this year, of the works on the Ungheni bridge, which will connect the Republic of Moldova to the European transport network through Romania.
“The works will be completed by the end of this year. In this regard, we welcome the signing on July 2 of this year of the bilateral agreement for the Ungheni connection, a necessary step forward for the completion of the project. As you know, Romania obtained significant funding through the SAFE Program to connect this bridge to the A 8 highway, and as part of the project there will be infrastructure works in the Republic of Moldova as well, including the first segment of the highway to European standards,” Ilie Bolojan explained.
He emphasized that the most important joint strategic project is the European integration process of the Republic of Moldova.
“Romania will continue to be the main supporter of the Republic of Moldova at the European Union level, making available the experience gained as a member state and providing political and diplomatic support. The Republic of Moldova has already recorded very good performances in this process, with the start of accession negotiations for clusters 1 – Fundamental Values and 6 – External Relations. We hope that, by the end of this year, at the European Union level, the necessary political decisions will be taken to open negotiations on the other four clusters”, Ilie Bolojan transmitted, according to Agerpres.
He also highlighted the progress recorded in the field of railway infrastructure.
“In April, the testing of the Fălciu-Cantemir line took place and, as you know, traffic on this line has been completely stopped for the last 17 years. By reopening this connection, Romania and the Republic of Moldova are recovering an important railway border crossing point”, Bolojan mentioned.
According to the interim prime minister, the discussions also focused on the regional and international situation, marked by major challenges and threats in the context of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
“We have a common assessment of the hostile actions of the Russian Federation and their effects on neighboring states. I mention, among others, the repeated violations of Romania’s airspace in recent times. Similar situations have also been recorded in the Republic of Moldova. We firmly condemn the continuation of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, as well as any actions violating the air or maritime space of our states,” Ilie Bolojan also said.
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