The Republic of Moldova and Lithuania celebrate 25 years of diplomatic relations this year. Besides the positive cooperation between the two states, there are yet many challenges and problems that should be discussed and solved, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevicius, who is in Moldova on a working visit, stated in a news conference held jointly with his Moldovan counterpart Andrei Galbur, IPN reports.

According to Linas Linkevicius, Lithuania will continue to judge Moldova on deeds, not on political slogans. “As far as we all know, several years ago the forces that declared themselves pro-European facilitated the stealing of US$ 1 billion from the state budget and this is a very sonorous act of corruption. I came here to reiterate that the European Union, in this case Lithuania, will not tolerate such behavior. These acts have nothing to do with the European values,” he stated. The minister expressed his regret at the fact that the Venice Commission’s recommendations concerning the amendment of the Election Code weren’t fully taken into account.

For his part, Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of Moldova Andrei Galbur said that during 25 years of diplomatic relations, Lithuania confirmed its role of very important foreign partner of Moldova. In the discussions with his counterpart, they agreed to restore the Moldovan-Lithuanian commission for European integration and conferred on regional security and the developments in the Transnistrian conflict settlement process.

During the last few years, Lithuania has implemented 100 projects in Moldova, expressing its readiness to offer Moldova assistance in such areas as public administration, phytosanitary sector, financial-banking sector and corruption fighting.

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