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President Ilves in Chisinau: Moldova is a country of good news
04.10.2013
"With its reforms, Moldova is one of the most successful EU's Eastern Partnership countries, an example to others, and Estonia is proud of your success," President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, who arrived on a working visit to Moldova, said after a meeting with the Moldovan Head of State, Nicolae Timofti.
Estonia is ready to share our experiences in integrating to the European Union, and also in how to explain the European choice to people, President Ilves assured. The co-operation between the two countries has so far been focused on the IT field, e-state, health care system and stenghtening state structures.
The Estonian Head of State expressed support for establishing visa-free travel between Moldova and the EU, and for a speedy signing of the free trade and association agreement scheduled for signing at the EU Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius in November.
Speaking about the political and economic pressure on Moldova, which is looking towards Europe, President Ilves evoked the words of the famous musician Bob Dylan: you don't need a weather man to know which way the wind blows, adding: "The wind blows from Europe".
According to him, the anti-EU and anti-NATO pressure on Estonia in the 1990s made the country stronger and the entrepreneurs who had turned their sights on the West committed themselves to quality.
President Ilves recalled the recent proposal of the European Commission to eliminate all remaining tariffs on the import of Moldovan wines, which means completely opening up the European market to Moldovan wines.
President Timofti called the visit of the Estonian Head of State a show of solidarity and a sign of close co-operation between the two countries.
"I can see no option for Moldova other than a place in the European community," he said, stressing: "But it is all up to us,; our friends can only help."
At the press conference after the meeting of the heads of state, President Ilves stated: "I hope that Moldova will soon be at the European table."
On his two-day working visit, the Estonian Head of State will also meet with the speaker of the Moldovan parliament, Igor Corman, and the head of government, Iurie Leancă.
On the invitation of Prime Minister Leancă, President Ilves will speak at the high-level international cyber security conference, "Digital Security in a Digitally Interconnected World".
President Ilves will be the first foreign leader to visit and place flowers at the memorial to the victims of totalitarianism that was recently unveiled in Chisinau.
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