Moldova and Ukraine must strengthen their efforts on the path of European integration, declared Ukraine’s Ambassador to Chisinau Serhii Pyrozhkov at a press conference on the occasion of the 21st anniversary of Ukraine’s Independence and the National Flag Day. The Ambassador said that this sphere became more topical after Kiev signed the Agreement of Association with the EU and Moldova was at the active stage of negotiations regarding the signing of this agreement, Info-Prim Neo reports. The Ambassador appreciated positively the results obtained in solving bilateral problems and especially the essential progress in demarcating the common border. “Out of 1222 km of common border, only 452 aren’t demarcated yet, which are in the Transnistrian region”, said the Ambassador. An important result, according to him, is the intensification of commercial and economic collaboration so that the volume of trade reached over $1 billion. After a 5 year pause, the 13th meeting of the joint intergovernmental commission for commercial-economic cooperation was organized, alongside two more business forums. Another positive result is Ukraine’s more active position regarding the settlement of the Transnistrian conflict and the strengthening of confidence measures. Ukraine is the mediator and the guarantor country in the process of settling the Transnistrian conflict and it became considerably more active in the 5+2 negotiations. Serhii Pyrozhkov declared that Ukraine actively supports the strengthening of the dialogue between Chisinau and Tiraspol in order to solve the most important social and economic problems, which could help boosting the confidence measures and getting the two sides of the Nistru closer. As regards the basic principles of the conflict settlement, the Ambassador said that the Ukraine’s stance didn’t change- Moldova’s territorial integrity and sovereignty must be respected, but considering the interests of the people on the left bank of the Nistru. According to the Ambassador, all the progress was possible thanks to the intensive dialogue at the highest level between the Moldovan and the Ukrainian governments. “Only this year, Ukraine was visited by Moldovan President Nicolae Timofti, Prime Minister Vlad Filat and Speaker Marian Lupu”, said Serhii Pyrozhkov. On August 23, Ukraine celebrates the National Flag Day, just in the eve of the Independence Day. On this occasion, at the Ukrainian Embassy in Chisinau, the Ukrainian flag was hoisted solemnly.