“The AEI government showed to all the people of good faith that coming closer to Romania is beneficial to the European integration of Moldova,” Romanian Ambassador to Moldova Marius Lazurca said in an interview for Info-Prim Neo, [{which was published on November 29, 2011,}]. He stated that the Moldovan-Romanian relations during the Communist rule were a ‘sad episode’. ”After the democratic changes of April 2009, the bilateral relations started to develop at an exceptional pace for two essential reasons. The first is the exponential increase in the trust between Chisinau and Bucharest after during almost a decade Romania had been the preferred victim of the propaganda of a hostile regime. This trust allowed settling many ‘debts’ – opening of the Consulates General in Cahul and Balti for example. The second reason of the dynamism in the bilateral relations is the sincere pro-European orientation of the AEI government. An administration that really wants to have closer relations with the EU, develops dynamical relations with Romania, which is the only neighbor of Moldova in the EU. As a conclusion, I would dare to say that the AEI government showed to all the people of good faith that coming closer to Romania is beneficial to the European integration of your country,” said the Romanian Ambassador. On the other hand, Marius Lazurca voiced hope that the model of bilateral relations in the previous period will remain the only one. “Unfortunately, despite the fact that the period between 2001 and April 2009 was marked by positive events, the general result will be undoubtedly affected by the final decisions of the Greceanyi Governemnt – the expulsion of Ambassador Teodorescu (an exclusive gesture in the EU), closure of the border, still unsubstantiated accusations that Romania had been involved in the April 7, 2009 events, driving away of our correspondents. We hope that this sad episode will remain the only one as a possible repeat will cause hardly assessable damage to Moldova, especially at foreign level,” he stated. He denied the assertions that Romania would be involved in clashes of interest with Russia on Moldova’s territory. ” Romania is not looking for competitors in Moldova, but for partners. We do not want to clash with somebody. On the contrary, we want to synchronize our efforts with all the international players present in Moldova and together contribute to the positive and ambitious processes taking place here. Our good faith is proven for instance by the establishment, together with France, of Moldova’s Group of Friends, which is an informal ”club” of EU member states that make concerted effort to support Moldova’s European integration. Other examples are: we set up a water supply system in Rosu village together with Germany; alongside the U.S. we assist in the creation of a district transfusion center in Cahul; we supported the agricultural census in concert with Sweden, and so on,” said Marius Lazurca. According to him, Romanian’s readiness to cooperate is proven by the great interest expressed by foreign companies, including Russian, in the Romanian market. “As regards the foreign companies’ interest in the Romanian market, I think that this fact surprises no one. Romania offers numerous business opportunities and this fact is confirmed by the volume of foreign investments made until 2010 – over US$80 billion,” said the ambassador.