Romanian prime minister Ilie Bolojan meets with top officials during working visit to Moldova

Prime minister Ilie Bolojan conducted his first foreign visit since taking office on Saturday, August 23, in the Republic of Moldova, “as a sign of attachment to the Bessarabian Romanians,” according to him. The head of the Romanian executive had talks with Moldovan counterpart, Dorin Recean, as well as meetings with president Maia Sandu and with the speaker of the Parliament, Igor Grosu.

The visit began on Saturday morning, when the prime ministers of Romania and the Republic of Moldova had a working meeting at the Leușeni - Albița border crossing point. The discussions focused on investments and measures needed to facilitate the movement of people and goods, as well as on aspects related to economic cooperation and major connective infrastructure projects.

“Crossing from one bank of the Prut to the other must facilitate our ties. I appreciate the efforts so far of both sides, so that at present, 9 out of the 10 border crossing points on the Prut are operational. Moreover, at the Albița – Leușeni border point, we have the coordinated control system under implementation. Starting tomorrow, this method of control will also operate at the point between Galați and Giurgiulești,” Bolojan stated.

In turn, Moldovan prime minister Dorin Recean mentioned that by the end of this year, the necessary infrastructure will be prepared to establish coordinated control at the Sculeni border crossing point.

After that, Ilie Bolojan was received with military honors at the headquarters of the government of the Republic of Moldova. He continued talks with the Moldovan counterpart, during which they both highlighted the special relationship between the two countries.

The Moldovan prime minister also appreciated that the bilateral relations between Chișinău and Bucharest have risen “to the most brotherly level” since Nicușor Dan became president and Ilie Bolojan became head of the executive.

“In recent years, we have supported each other in the face of hardships, in the face of interference by foreign forces in our elections. But we have also celebrated, with the same joy, each other’s successes,” he said.

From Chișinău, the two prime ministers traveled to the “National Treasure” Festival in the village of Horești, Ialoveni district, after which they met with citizens of the region at the House of Culture in the village of Bardar.

Asked by the mayor of Bardar, Valeriu Rața, about the policies that should be implemented so that Moldovans no longer leave the country, Ilie Bolojan said that “both Romanians and Moldovans will return home in greater numbers when we create better development conditions in our villages, in our towns. An important condition is to be able to travel, and the fact that during this period we are building highways that come towards Iași and towards the border, directly to Ungheni, means creating conditions for development.”