Moldovan Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign and European Integration Minister Nicu Popescu has resigned.
He announced this at a press conference on January 24. Nicu Popescu said that over the last 2.5 years, he, together with Moldovan President Maia Sandu and the government team, managed to successfully fulfill a number of fundamental foreign policy tasks set earlier for Moldova, and at this stage, he needs a pause. Nicu Popescu explained that this pause will be only in his post of foreign policy chief, but not in his efforts and personal contribution to the promotion of Moldova's EU accession goals, and he will continue to promote this in every possible way. Nicu Popescu gave assurances that, regardless of the post he will hold in the future, he will contribute to the efforts of Moldovan President Maia Sanda and the government's team to achieve Moldova's EU accession, to establish peace, stability and tranquility in Moldova. While answering journalists' questions, he indirectly signaled that he might be appointed Moldova's chief negotiator in the talks on Moldova's accession to the EU. Nicu Popescu emphasized that within the work in the Cabinets of Natalia Gavrilita and Dorin Recean, with the support of the ruling party in Parliament, it was possible to put Moldova firmly on the path of EU accession and on the EU's enlarged map. He recalled that 2-3 years ago, few people believed that Moldova would get the status of a candidate for the EU accession and start negotiations on the EU accession, but by joint efforts, this was achieved. Nicu Popescu said that Moldova has fulfilled 94 per cent of the 9 recommendations made by the European Commission, and it has to complete some other elements of actions in order to fully fulfill them. He said that now we are on the last hundred meters to implement all the recommendations at the level of 100 per cent. Nicu Popescu said that at the time of assuming responsibility for our country's foreign policy in 2021, Moldova was practically devoid of international respect and support, still marked by the shadow of corrupt and oligarchic governments. "We had a clear goal: to bring Moldova out of isolation, to overcome the consequences of the pandemic and to put the country back on the European path - goals that we managed to successfully realize. The year 2022 brought us dramatic challenges: Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine radically changed the context and required us to refocus our efforts on peace and security in Moldova. Despite these extremely difficult circumstances, we managed to mobilize massive international support for our country and we succeeded in obtaining the status of a candidate country for EU accession in June 2022, an important step towards European integration. The year 2023 was marked by Moldova's firm establishment in the European space and family, as well as by the European Council's decision to start accession negotiations with our country," Nicu Popescu said. // 24.01.2024 - InfoMarket.
