The Foreign Policy Association (APE) in a final conference presented the results of the project “Contributions to Development Partnership between Romania and Moldova”. National and Romanian experts set out the main objectives of the existing partnership and the tasks for the immediate future, IPN reports.
Cristian Ghinea, executive director of the Romanian Center for European Policies (CRPE), said that the partnership project between the APE and CRPE began in 2012 as a result of discussions and consultations with the U.S. Embassies in Bucharest and Chisinau and with representatives of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Moldova. Romania, as a member state of the EU, and Moldova, as a state involved in the financial neighborhood instruments of the EU’s Eastern Partnership, are eligible and cooperate within a number of regional initiatives.
“One of the elements of this cooperation is the trilateral Romania-Ukraine-Moldova program with financing of €127 million. The most important projects resulting from this program include the co-financing of the Iasi-Ungheni gas pipeline, the extension of Romania’s Mobile Emergency Service SMURD into Moldova and the customs modernization project,” said Cristian Ghinea.
Secretary of State at the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Bogdan Aurescu said that Romania, as all the EU member states, must provide financial support to other states by the Development Assistance instrument. When making progress in implementing the reforms required by Brussels, Chisinau became the preferred recipient of Romanian assistance. Thus, the allocations to Moldova increased tens of times after 2010, from €138,000 to €2million. The financial resources were intended for institutional support projects and for reforming essential sectors for Moldova.
APE executive director Victor Chirila said the building of the Iasi-Ungheni gas pipeline is the pièce de résistance of the Moldovan-Romanian cooperation that changes the position on the bilateral relations between the two states. Romania is present in Moldova through twinning projects implemented at a number of ministries. Also, the Moldovan central institutions include Romanian education, Internet and energy experts. There were implemented similar projects concerning customs, public procurement and at the State Chancellery.
