The Council of the European Union will officially permit opening the talks on the creation of a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area with Moldova by the end of May, Prime Minister Vlad Filat said in Brussels in a news conference centering on the results of the meeting of the Moldova-EU Cooperation Council, Info-Prim Neo reports, quoting a communiqué from the Government. Vlad Filat said they took stock of the accomplishments achieved during a year since the previous meeting of the Council and agreed the main directions for the future. “We reported preliminarily on the steps taken to meet the requirements in justice and the internal affairs. The progress report will be rendered by the Government of Moldova on May 15. This will enable to initiate discussions on the official switchover to the second stage of implementing the Plan of Action on the Liberalization of the Visa Regime,” said Vlad Filat. The Premier also spoke about the release of journalist Ernest Vardanyan, saying it was the result of the concerted effort made by the international community, including the EU, and the Moldovan decision makers. He stressed that effort should be further made to set free Ilie Cazac. Vlad Filat also said that the official talks in the 5+2 format are close to being resumed and the EU’s role in this respect is decisive. Hungarian Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Head of the European Union Delegation Zsolt Nemeth said that Moldova made progress in implementing the European integration program, stressing the EU lacks success stories. “We are lucky that the Eastern Partnership includes Moldova, which represents the success we want,” he stated. Zsolt Nemeth approved of the pace of the talks on the Association Agreement, voicing hope that the final chapter concerning the free trade area will start to be implemented soon. “I’m impressed by Moldova’s mature attitude towards one of the greatest challenges – the Transnistrian conflict. We hope that all the sides involved will meet in June in the 5+2 format, which is the only viable one,” he said. European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy Stefan Fule said the discussions held within the meeting of the Moldova-EU Cooperation Council were productive. “During the last two years, the relations between Moldova and the EU have developed dynamically. This shows that when a partner wants, the EU makes everything possible to help it,” said Stefan Fule, adding that the progress made by Moldova can be considered impressive, while the June elections will show again that Moldova subscribes to the European values.