Roberta METSOLA, EP President welcomes Natalia GAVRILIȚA, Moldovan Prime Minister to the European Parliament, in Brussels. After their meeting, they hold a joint press statement.

Brussels

press point

EU - Moldova (T)

METSOLA, Roberta (EPP, MT, EP President)

president's agenda

Moldova's application for EU membership (T)

GAVRILIȚA, Natalia

Press point by Roberta METSOLA, EP President and Natalia GAVRILIȚA, Moldovan Prime Minister

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, Let me start your colleagues by expressing my heartfelt condolences to all the children, women and men who have lost their close ones in Turkish and Syrian cities early this morning. It is truly devastating and tragic. Our thoughts are with all those injured and still trapped. And let me also thank all the rescue workers and volunteers on the ground that are doing everything to save lives. The European Union has already started to provide help.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, We are mobilising search and rescue teams from a number of member states and emergency aid is already on its way. We stand ready to assist in all recovery efforts. The Prime Minister, Dear Natalia, first of all, welcome to Brussels. We recently met in Moldova, where we had a very good meeting and I also met and that Vice President Maia Sandu and young people. It was important for me and the European Parliament to see firsthand the challenges that Moldova is facing and the excellent leadership that it has.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, In our meeting today, it was also important for me to convey the strongest of support for Moldova on behalf of the European Parliament and in particular for its EU membership path. For us, the Republic of Moldova has a rightful place in the European family. In our meeting, we looked forward to the EU Moldova Association Council taking place tomorrow.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, The full implementation of the current Association and Free Trade Agreement is the best and fastest way for Moldova to make progress on the membership bid. We need to accelerate the gradual integration of Moldova into the single market. And let me here also single out the abolition of roaming charges as a particularly important and symbolic step.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, The European Parliament will also do its part when it comes to the adoption of the announced additional €145 million macro financial support package, which would bring the total support to Moldova to some €600 million. The first steps will already be taken in the plenary in Strasbourg next week, as we know how urgently these resources are needed.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, I also wanted to take this opportunity to thank Moldova for standing firm against Russia's aggression in Ukraine. We know that this is not easy in the very difficult political and economic situation, especially when it comes to energy. Let me finally also praise Moldova for its immense efforts to provide shelter to more than 100,000 Ukrainian citizens and for its support to the 3 fourths of a million refugees who have transited through your country.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, So, Natalia, dear prime Minister, on behalf of the European Parliament, let me reiterate that Europe is with you and we will remain with you. We need to be strong and united in our convictions.

SOUNDBITE (English), Natalia GAVRILIȚA, Moldovan Prime Minister, Madam President, dear Roberta, thank you so much to you personally and to the European Parliament for the unwavering and decisive support that Moldova has received on its path for European integration. Before I go into details of our meetings and discussions, I would also like to express on behalf of the citizens of the Republic of Moldova our condolences to the victims of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.

SOUNDBITE (English), Natalia GAVRILIȚA, Moldovan Prime Minister, And we also stand ready through our emergency services to participate in the EU missions as we have done previously. We find ways to not only be beneficiaries of the European institutions and Mechanism, but also contributors to humanitarian efforts, as in this case, but also to the security, to ensuring the security of borders and to contributing to efforts to ensure peace and stability on the European continent.

SOUNDBITE (English), Natalia GAVRILIȚA, Moldovan Prime Minister, I would like to thank the European Parliament for the resolutions that have been adopted, particularly last year in the run up to the recognition of Moldova or the granting to Moldova of the candidate status to the European Union. This is a very important signal for our people in these difficult times. We strongly condemn the Russian aggression to Ukraine and do our best to support the Ukrainian people.

SOUNDBITE (English), Natalia GAVRILIȚA, Moldovan Prime Minister, As you have mentioned, we host the refugees and are the only country outside of the European Union that has extended the temporary protection mechanism to Ukrainian refugees. We are also active participants in solidarity planes. We also have created a security hub to ensure that the old security mechanisms are working properly and we are contributors to greater security in the region and in Europe overall.

SOUNDBITE (English), Natalia GAVRILIȚA, Moldovan Prime Minister, We had a very good discussion about Moldova's efforts to implement the nine conditions of the European Commission to open up negotiations. We have also taken note of the second report and have started efforts on prioritising our efforts to approximate the legislation to the EU legislation. And of course, we very much appreciate the different types of assistance, technical assistance, financial assistance that we receive in order to move our country along the European integration path and make it irreversible.

SOUNDBITE (English), Natalia GAVRILIȚA, Moldovan Prime Minister, And here I would like to particularly thank you for the agreement to speed up the process of adopting the macro financial assistance that was announced just a couple of weeks ago. And we stand ready to continue this path and to both deal with overlapping crises, but also to create the necessary reforms or implement the necessary reforms and create the necessary conditions for medium and long term transformation of our country on the path to the European Union.

SOUNDBITE (English), Natalia GAVRILIȚA, Moldovan Prime Minister, We are certain that together, through unity and solidarity, we can overcome the situation and come out of this terrible war stronger, more united and more resilient. Thank you.

Q & A, Question regarding on the intentions of Moldova about the European intregation. Second question regards on why Moldova could be important on the EU plans.

Press point by Roberta METSOLA, EP President and Natalia GAVRILIȚA, Moldovan Prime Minister

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