Ekaterina Zaharieva: Our support for Moldova’s European prospects has been consistent and firm
05 April 2018 News
‘Our support for Moldova’s European prospects has been consistent and firm. Bulgaria was among the first member states to ratify the country’s association agreement. We have to offer Moldova’s citizens good examples and show them the benefits of EU membership. We have to send them clear messages.’ This is what Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ekaterina Zaharieva stated within the framework of her meeting with Iurie Leancă, Moldova’s Deputy Prime Minister on European Integration.
Minister Zaharieva congratulated Moldova on the progress made thus far on its way towards European integration. ‘Sometimes, the reforms we have to conduct are difficult and time-consuming, but their benefits are visible in the long term,’ Bulgaria’s highest-ranking diplomat highlighted. She said that one of the best things that happened to Bulgaria was its accession to the European Union, using Bulgaria’s significantly improved economic indicators as illustration. ‘It is extremely important that we, the EU, send positive and encouraging messages to these countries, which stand firmly behind their choice of working towards European integration,’ Ekaterina Zaharieva stated during a joint press conference with her counterpart from Moldova held after their meeting. She noted that ensuring European prospects for the Eastern Partnership countries and for those of the Western Balkans alike was among the priorities of the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU.
‘Bulgaria has been a very important partner of ours. I congratulate you on the leadership you have demonstrated in presiding over the Council of the EU,’ Deputy Prime Minister Iurie Leancă stated clearly, and thanked Bulgaria for its support for Moldova.
As part of their meeting, Minister Zaharieva and Minister Leancă discussed specific ideas to foster bilateral economic cooperation, and the potential to further develop partnership in the sphere of agriculture, including at a local and at a regional level. ‘We talked about creating incentives for business investment from both countries. We have registered a 17% rise in trade flows, and improvement in tourism, yet there is still potential that needs harnessing,’ Minister Zaharieva noted.
Minister Zaharieva thanked the government of Moldova for their support in opening the Bulgarian consulate general in Taraclia, and for the incredibly short period in which that was made possible. ‘Our ambition is for this place to not merely be a consulate but a centre which facilitates investment and contact between individuals in order to indeed make this region attractive, and for it to enable us to offer any and all assistance to our community there,’ the she added.
Minister Zaharieva and Minister Leancă discussed specific ideas on projects aimed at improving the level of education of the Bulgarian community in Moldova. Those included developing the Bulgarian University in Taraclia into a regional centre for education, and exchange of faculty and students between higher schools.
Iurie Leancă highlighted that both counties had vested interest in ensuring a better integrated and more educated Bulgarian community. He noted that, in order to make this a reality, it was important to work on said community’s connectivity.
‘We have to ensure quality education for our fellow Bulgarians in Moldova. We have agreed that the funding from Bulgaria under the Development Aid Program will be allocated to ensuring proper infrastructure, but also to improving the quality of education at all levels,’ Minister Zaharieva highlighted.
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