Visit – The Romanian Foreign Minister, Bogdan Aurescu, had meetings in Chisinau with the Moldovan President Maia Sandu, the Parliament Speaker, Igor Grosu, and the Prime Minister Natalia Gavriliţa, with whom he discussed the European course of the Republic of Moldova (an ex-Soviet state with a majority Romanian-speaking population). Aurescu reiterated Romania’s full support for managing the wide-ranging crises that Moldova is facing and for advancing at a determined pace the reforms necessary for joining the European Union. He mentioned the prompt steps that led to the supply, by Romania, in a critical period of energy crisis, of over 80% of the electricity needs of the Republic of Moldova. There was also an in-depth exchange of assessments regarding the security situation against the backdrop of Russia’s war of aggression against the neighboring state, Ukraine. Economically, at the end of the year, a record value of 3.5 billion dollars of trade between Romania and Moldova is expected, increasing by approximately 46% as compared to 2021.
