Moldova's Sandu: Moldova felt Romania's shoulder close by, helping it weather crises

President of Moldova Maia Sandu said on Tuesday that Moldova in 2021 has always felt "Romania's shoulder close by," which has helped it weather crises more easily and start building a better future.The Moldovan head of state said that Romania has "firmly" supported Moldova in economic, political, diplomatic, cultural, educational terms, and such support is felt by the citizens."Romanian investment in Moldova is important, and so is the opening of the Romanian market to our producers. Romania has been our most important trading partner for many years. Most of our exports go to Romania. We want this partnership to grow, and we will take care, including through judicial reforms, to make the Republic of Moldova a safe and attractive place for investment. I want to send a message to investors: the Republic of Moldova is changing, our state will become more efficient, more transparent, more business friendly, so we are waiting for you to come to the Republic of Moldova," said Sandu at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace in Bucharest at the end of a meeting with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis.She pointed out that her official visit to Bucharest represents further proof to the special relationship that Moldova has with Romania."In 2021, the Republic of Moldova has always felt Romania's shoulder close by, which has helped us get through crises more easily, and also start building a better future. Thanks to Romania and the outcome of the discussions we had in December in Chisinau, the Republic of Moldova received the first donations of COVID-19 vaccine, which allowed us to start the vaccination process in early March and save thousands of lives. (...) Romania is the largest donor of vaccine, and millions of items of personal protective equipment are adding up to them. In the spring of 2020, doctors from Romania came to work side by side with their colleagues in the Republic of Moldova in COVID wards full of patients. I am glad that we could reciprocate this autumn with a similar gesture. (...) This autumn, in the midst of an energy crisis, the Romanian government came to our aid, offering us fuel oil to produce heat," said Sandu.She added that Moldova remains interested in carrying out an inter-connection project for the Suceava-Balti power lines and that she supports the Romanian electricity companies entering the Moldovan market, which will stimulate competition in a market still dominated by monopolies."Another very important project to us is the construction of the road bridge over the Prut in Ungheni. It will connect us more easily both to Iasi and to the motorway that will connect eastern Romania to the European Union. A draft agreement has already been developed by the Romanian side, and we hope that we will move quickly in terms of building or renovating other bridges across the Prut - it is to the benefit of the economy, and also of the people on both banks of the river," added Sandu.The Moldovan president also said that there is excellent co-operation between Moldova and Romania and a lot of openness on the part of the officials in both countries."From now on, we count on Romania's bilateral support, and also on its important voice within the European Union. European integration is a major goal of the Republic of Moldova, which we can achieve with the support of our friends in Bucharest. Strategic partnership for European integration between the Republic of Moldova and Romania will help us achieve this goal faster, in the interest of our citizens. There are all the prerequisites in place for obtaining historical results in our relationship and for the next years to be the best and most successful in the relationship between our countries," said Sandu.