The plane of the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will land in Chisinau this afternoon, at about 15.30. The official will be met by Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Natalia Gherman. Afterward, the delegation will go to the State Residence on Nicolae Iorga St, IPN reports.
John Kerry will have meetings with President Nicolae Timofti, Prime Minster Iurie Leanca and Head of Parliament Igor Corman. The meeting with the Speaker will be also attended by Deputy Speakers Liliana Palihovici, Andrian Candu and Oleg Bodrug, head of the Democratic parliamentary group Marian Lupu, head of the Liberal faction Ion Hadarca and chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party Vladimir Filat.
After the meetings, the U.S. official will go to Cricova to meet with Moldovan wine producers.
John Kerry is travelling to several countries from December 3 to 6. On December 3, he went to Brussels, where he attended the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Foreign Ministerial and associated meetings. In Jerusalem, the official will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss a range of issues including Iran and the negotiations with the Palestinians. In Ramallah, Secretary Kerry will meet with President Mahmoud Abbas.
Initially, John Kerry planned to go to Kiev too, but changed his mind after the Ukrainian authorities suspended the procedures for signing the Association Agreement with the EU. According to sources in the U.S. Department of State, quoted by the Chisinau press, Secretary Kerry decided to come to Moldova because the country initiated a series of reforms over the last few years. It will be his first visit to Moldova. In March 2011, Moldova was visited by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden.
In connection with the U.S. official’s visit, traffic on a number of Chisinau streets, including Dacia, Stefan cel Mare, and Calea Orheiului, will be restricted. The National Patrolling Inspectorate urges the people to avoid downtown and to comply with the instructions of patrolling inspectors.
