Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visited Moldova, the first visit by a Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic to the country, where he met with the President of Moldova Maia Sandu and Prime Minister Dorin Recean.
During the meetings, the mutual desire to strengthen bilateral relations and expand cooperation was discussed, particularly in the areas of trade, economy, and energy, as well as providing expertise for the implementation of reforms related to Moldova’s harmonization with the acquis communautaire.
During his meeting with Ms. Sandu, the Prime Minister underlined Greece’s contribution to Moldova’s energy security, while stressing that the transport of natural gas from Greece to Moldova and Ukraine via the Trans-Balkan Pipeline is crucial for Europe’s energy security and the success of the Vertical Corridor.
He also highlighted the great prospects for cooperation in the field of Renewable Energy Sources, in which Greece plays a leading role, as well as in connectivity projects that will benefit the entire region.
They also discussed issues of regional and international interest, with an emphasis on developments in Ukraine, while they exchanged views on the progress of Ukraine’s European course.
The Prime Minister, accompanied by Ms. Sandu, visited the home of Michael Katsikas, a historic building that served as the headquarters of the Philiki Etaireia in Moldova and which the Greek government plans to acquire.
In his statement, in the context of the two leaders’ press conference, Kyriakos Mitsotakis stated:
“Honourable Madam President, dear Maia, thank you first of all for the very warm welcome and for your kind words. It’s a great honour for me to be the first Greek Prime Minister to pay an official visit to Moldova, a country with which Greece shares very close historical and cultural ties. And thank you for remembering the story of Alexandros Ypsilantis. His presence here as a symbolic movement at the time, the beginning of our national war of Independence.
And my visit here today reflects my strong commitment to deepening our cooperation, strengthening our bilateral relationship and building together a common European future. Madam President and I had an opportunity to have a very fruitful discussion regarding various issues concerning our cooperation and confirming the excellent level of our bilateral relations.
After all, we have a very strong Moldovan community in Greece and a Greek community in Moldova, and they are the living bridges between our peoples, contributing to the strengthening of our dialogue. We’ve opened an embassy in Chisinau recently, and it’s a concrete manifestation of the importance we attach to upgrading our bilateral relationship and their future prospects. As you pointed out, there is a lot of untapped potential in increasing bilateral trade, but in particular in strengthening business ties.
We spoke a lot about cooperation in energy. Greece can enhance Moldova’s energy security through the Southern Energy Corridor and the Revithousa, but in particular the Alexandroupoli Floating Storage and Regasification Unit, which allows us, Greece, to be an energy security provider for all our regional partners. And we spoke about how we can make this gas corridor work seamlessly and be competitive from a pricing perspective, something which will be important for Moldova, but in particular also for Ukraine.
We also spoke about the significant potential that your country has in terms of renewable energy. You have made significant progress, as have we. Greece produces now more than 50% of its electricity from renewables. There are days when we can produce up to 100% of our electricity requirements from the wind, the sun and the water. And we have been encouraging Greek companies to actively contribute to Moldova’s effort to further develop renewable projects. And I’m sure that very soon we will see concrete results.
I’m also happy that you mentioned connectivity. Direct flights between our two countries are important. Greece is a destination for Moldovan tourists. But we also want Greeks to visit Moldova and to cherish this particular historical and cultural connection between our two countries.
And, of course, I also took note of the significant progress that you have made in the IT space, where Greece is also developing at a very, very fast pace. And I think there may be opportunities to foster cooperation in IT following this visit. We would work on this project as well.
In our discussions, I reiterated Greece’s unwavering support for the independence and the territorial integrity of Moldova. And we’re fully aware of the complex challenges that your country is facing in the wake of the Russian invasion and the war in Ukraine. You should know that Greece stands by you and you can always count on our support.
And we also had the opportunity, and I’m doing again this publicly, as I’ve done many times, to reaffirm our commitment to Moldova’s European path. As a country that joined the then European Economic Community in 1981 as a 10th member, we know how significant this commitment is in terms of anchoring a country within the European acquis and also providing the necessary geopolitical stability. We have always strongly supported the decision to grant your country EU candidate status and the opening of the accession negotiations.
And I had the opportunity to congratulate Madam President again on the successful course of Moldova’s integration path into the European family. It’s done under difficult ο circumstances, we recognise that. But I think you have to be publicly commended on the effort you undertake to implement difficult reforms, but necessary reforms in order to align yourself with the European acquis.
We will continue to be a firm advocate of your European future. We stand ready, as we discuss, to share our experience, to provide technical expertise wherever you deem it to be necessary to support your country in aligning with the EU acquis. And we fully encourage you, in spite of the difficulties, to maintain this positive momentum by intensifying the substantial reforms that you have already undertaken.
Madam President, myself and other southeastern European leaders met yesterday in the historic city of Odessa, where we had an opportunity to Participate in the 4th Ukraine Southeast Europe Summit. The first such summit, as you remember, took place under it was a Greek initiative. It took place in Athens in August 2023. I’m very pleased to see that this initiative has been consolidated. And during yesterday’s meeting we discussed the latest development. We expressed again our unwavering support to Ukraine, and we highlighted Moldova’s important role in this crucial geopolitical context.
And of course, we also spoke about ambitious connectivity projects, about this vision that I personally have between a corridor connecting Alexandroupoli to Odessa through Bulgaria, Romania and Moldova would be a great reaffirmation of regional connectivity and a clear signal that both these countries, both Moldova and Ukraine, belong within the European family.
And of course, every time we meet with our partners, we discuss the process of enlargement itself, not just with Moldova and Ukraine, but also with our Western Balkan partners. For us, enlargement was always and remains a priority. It’s a strategic investment we have to make as Europeans in peace, stability and the prosperity and the security of the region. It is more imperative today, given the geopolitical context in Europe.
And I just would like to stress that we need to uphold the credibility of the enlargement process and our security interests regarding the western Balkans as well. And we must live up to the promise that we’ve given to all your countries that we are committed to reforms and to our shared values, because the future of western Balkans, of Moldova, of Ukraine lies within Europe.
Also had the opportunity to brief Madam President about regional developments, Greek-Turkish relations, the Cyprus issue, where our positions are well known.
But let me conclude by saying it’s a real pleasure for me that at the completion of this visit, we will have an opportunity to visit what I understand is a very important Chisinau landmark, the Katsikas House. It holds a special place, as you pointed out, in our struggle for independence, which started in 1821.
Again, dear Maia, Madam President, thank you for the constructive discussion, and we have a lot of common projects that we need to build upon, and I’m looking forward to seeing you again very soon in the future”.
Responding to a question from Moldovan journalist Irina Conor on behalf of One TV television channel regarding Moldova’s accession course to the European Union, the Prime Minister noted:
“Well, I’d say it is not my job to tell a competent foreign government what to do in terms of the European integration. The project is laid out in detail. It’s a complex, merit based, difficult project. What I can tell publicly is that it’s worth the effort and that we can offer whatever technical assistance is required.
And the second point I would like to make is that the reforms which are connected to this European project sometimes may be difficult or politically painful, but they also pay off in the medium to long term.
So in an environment where, you know, populist voices are becoming louder, it is important to highlight that Europe and the European integration remains a beacon of stability. That, in my mind, should be the direction toward which Moldova should move and that the benefits greatly, greatly outweigh whatever short term costs.
And I think it’s important that this message comes from a country which joined the European Union early. We also went through our own struggles. It was exactly ten years ago that Greece found itself on the precipice of a complete disaster, when we almost risked, through incompetent negotiations with the then government to crash out of the Eurozone. But we avoided the worst and we’re thankful for that.
So the European direction of Moldova, in our mind, will benefit the Moldovan people, all the Moldovan people, at the end of the day, and that’s why we support it”.
