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Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Audronius Ažubalis is paying a working visit to Moldova on 29-30 September.On 29 September in Chisinau, Foreign Minister A.Ažubalis and the Republic of Moldova’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Iurie Leancă chaired the first meeting of a bilateral Commission in the field of European Integration.

This commission was established after the Prime Ministers of Lithuania and Moldova signed a Joint Declaration on Lithuanian and Moldovan Cooperation in the field of European Integration in Chisinau on 26 January 2010. The Commission aims to share Lithuania’s euro-integration experience with Moldova.

This year, the EU and Moldova opened negotiations for an Association Agreement and launched a dialogue on visa-free travel to the EU for Moldovan citizens.

The meeting focused on Lithuania’s political support for Moldova’s euro-integration efforts. Foreign Minister Ažubalis stressed that in recent years our country had provided technical assistance and expertise to Moldova in such areas as customs, veterinary and phytosanitary issues, justice reform, and the enhancement of administrative capacities and others.

 “These practical projects and the overall sharing of Lithuania’s euro-integration experience, I believe, contribute to a more effective reform agenda and to closer integration between Moldova and the EU,” Foreign Minister Ažubalis said.

The Foreign Minister highlighted the importance of Lithuania’s assistance to Moldova.

“From our own experience we know how important the help of a friend is on the road to Euro-integration,” head of Lithuania’s diplomacy added.

Representatives from Lithuania’s Ministry of Social Security and Labour, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Agriculture and the State Food and Veterinary Service also took part in the meeting and shared their experiences.

On the same day, Foreign Minister Ažubalis held a meeting with I.Leancă. The ministers discussed Moldova’s internal political situation with approaching parliamentary elections, as well as relations with neighbouring countries. The ministers exchanged opinions on the situation in the region. Head of Lithuania’s diplomacy acquainted I.Leancă with the priorities of Lithuania’s chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in 2011.

The foreign minister welcomed Moldova’s effective European reform agenda and stressed that Lithuania had always expressed sound support for Moldova’s euro-integration efforts.

Foreign Minister  Ažubalis and I.Leancă signed three bilateral agreements: Protocol between the Government of the Republic of Lithuania and the Government of the Republic of Moldova on the Implementation of the Agreement between the Republic of Moldova and the European Community on the Readmission of Persons Residing without Authorisation (Implementing Protocol), Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Lithuania and the Government of the Republic of Moldova on Mutual Cultural Cooperation and Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Lithuania and the Government of the Republic of Moldova on Cooperation in the Field of Standartization, Metrology and Certification.

In the evening at the NATO Information and Documentation Centre in Chisinau, Lithuania’s foreign minister will take part in the opening ceremony of an exhibition entitled “The Lithuanian Army in Photography”. The exhibition is organized under the auspices of the Embassy of Lithuania, which is NATO’s Contact Point Embassy in Moldova.