President Nicolae Timofti today met his Bulgarian counterpart Rosen Plevneliev in Sofia.
The two presidents had a face-to-face meeting and then they took part in official talks. Subsequently, they gave a joint news conference. Timofti thanked the officials from Sofia for support provided in Moldova’s European integration.
“The next ambitious goal of Moldova is to get a clear perspective of joining the EU. My country will appreciate Bulgaria’s support to this end”, Timofti said.
The head of state expressed confidence that the trade and cultural exchanges between the two countries would boost once Moldova gets the EU associated country status.
Also, Timofti appreciated Bulgaria’s support for settling the Transnistrian conflict on the basis of observing sovereignty and territorial integrity of Moldova.
Rosen Plevneliev said that there were “friendship and confidence ties” between Chisinau and Sofia and congratulated Moldovan people on the occasion of signing the Association Agreement with the EU. “It is an important step towards democracy and welfare. After Bulgaria signed the Association Agreement with the EU in 1999, the gross domestic product per capita increased by 3 times – from 2,600 dollars to 7,500 dollars presently, and unemployment decreased from 30 to 10 per cent”, he said. Plevneliev said that the EU was an area, in which states, regardless of their size, can independently decide on the fate and future.
Rosen Plevneliev assured that the Bulgarian parliament would ratify the Moldova-EU Association Agreement as soon as possible.
The Bulgarian president expressed satisfaction with the conditions created by the Moldovan authorities for Bulgarians, who benefited from all rights seen in international conventions for preservation and development of national identity.
The heads of state also discussed the regional situation and expressed concern for the evolutions from eastern Ukraine. The two officials opted for stabilizing the situation in Ukraine on the basis of principles and norms of international law as regards sovereignty and territorial integrity of states.
In the afternoon, Timofti had meetings with Bulgaria National Assembly President Mihail Mikov and Bulgarian Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski. They approached issues related to development of political dialogue, as well as cooperation in the economic, investment, energy, infrastructure, education and culture sectors.
Timofti is accompanied by a delegation made up of Secretary General of the Presidential Office Ion Paduraru, presidential advisers, Deputy Foreign and European Integration Minister Valeriu Chiveri, head of Central and South-Eastern Europe of the Foreign and European Integration Ministry, Gheorghe Soltan, and the head of Taraclia district, Alexandr Garanovschi.