PM Ponta announces will visit Republic of Moldova, Turkey, China, attend U.N. General Assembly
Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta on Monday announced he will visit the Republic of Moldova, Turkey and China in the period ahead and will attend the United Nations General Assembly at the end of September.
'I can announce you I will be in Chisinau on Wednesday, in the same way that I was there last year to celebrate the Republic of Moldova's Independence Day by the side of Prime Minister Iurie Leanca, but also to ascertain the concrete things Romania should have done long ago and is finally doing for Moldova, beyond the political support for the country's European integration, for the development of the democratic institutions; we open the Iasi-Ungheni gas pipeline, we visit the first kindergartens build with the Romanian Government's support allotted in last December, we open (the emergency mobile resuscitation and extrication service) SMURD...', Ponta said after a working meeting with Defence Minister Mircea Dusa and Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean hosted by the foreign ministry.
He added the visit will offer 'an opportunity to survey, together with Prime Minister Leanca, all the common projects and all the areas in which Romania can make a concrete contribution by donations, by financial support for the development of the democratic institutions and for the preservation of the Romanian identity of the Republic of Moldova'.
Ponta also announced he will attend the inauguration ceremony of Turkey's new president in Ankara on Thursday. He underscored Turkey is the main commercial partner of Romania outside the European Union and a strategic partner in the three-way grouping in NATO alongside Poland.
The prime minister said he will pay a visit to China next week, on an invitation of his Chinese counterpart.
'On the occasion of this visit, we will chiefly talk about the economic partnership, beyond the political relations of Romania and China', he added.
Ponta announced he will go to the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 23-25 to present Romania's position on the international political situation. He said in the United States he will meet the executives of the most important energy companies, with the goal being the energy independence of Romania and the continued investments of such companies.
National unification objective can be accomplished at some point, Ponta says
Prime Minister Victor Ponta said on Monday that Romania's strategic objective is to speed up the Republic of Moldova's accession to the European Union, adding that after this event, by the common will, the national unification objective can be achieved at some point.
Ponta said that, since he became prime minister, Romania has made a series of 'concrete gestures' in its relation with the Republic of Moldova, gestures that reflect 'the fundamental obligation' to provide support to Chisinau as regards the development of democratic institutions, economic development and the EU accession of this state.
'I believe that all these concrete things have a much greater impact upon the population of the Republic of Moldova than beautiful statements ... and I think that Romania's strategic objective in the next period is to speed up Moldova's EU accession process, afterwards, at some point, by the will of the people on both sides of the Prut, we can accomplish the national unification objective, but the important thing now is to support Moldova in joining the EU as soon as possible,' Ponta said.