The President of the Seimas of Lithuania fully supports the Republic of Moldova in its path to accession to the European family of states and will help it face the hybrid challenges of this difficult period. The statement was made by the President of the Seimas, Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, during a joint briefing with Igor Grosu, who is on an official visit to Vilnius.
“Lithuania will help the Republic of Moldova in every possible way and you can count on us. In recent months, we have seen Russia’s attempts to destabilize the situation in your country through energy blackmail, cyber-attacks, protests, and other destructive actions. But the implementation of reforms will help the Republic of Moldova start accession negotiations as soon as possible,” said the President of the Seimas.
The Lithuanian President of the Seimas reiterated her condemnation of Russian aggression in Ukraine and said that his country respects the neutrality status of the Republic of Moldova: “Soon, Lithuania will host the NATO summit, and I want to say that we respect the neutrality status, but we recognize that the Republic of Moldova is a close partner of the Alliance, and we support this cooperation and the strengthening of your country’s resilience and defense capabilities.”
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In turn, Igor Grosu, the President of the Parliament of Chișinău, thanked Lithuania for its support and said that our country is determined to carry out reforms, the result of which will benefit, first and foremost, the citizens of the Republic of Moldova.
“We are more than confident that we will become part of the EU, it is just a matter of time, and only we can decide and influence how quickly we will join and enjoy the European family. This means that we need to implement reforms for ourselves, not for Brussels, not for Vilnius, but reforms for our people,” said Igor Grosu.
“We are here because we believe in our friendship, our resilience, and our success. Yes, we are a neutral country, but neutrality does not just mean sitting and praying for peace. You have to contribute to maintaining peace. First and foremost, you have to strengthen your defense capabilities. If someone else offers to help and provide assistance, of course, we will ensure and invest in our defense capability. The most important thing at the moment is the security of the airspace because we have had bad experiences when Russian missiles launched from the Black Sea entered our airspace. Speaking of our European path – it is a historic moment for the Republic of Moldova, and I am more than sure that we will become part of the European Union. It’s just a matter of time, and we are the ones who can decide and influence how quickly we will join the European family. This means that we will have to implement reforms, reforms for ourselves, not for Brussels, not for Vilnius, but for our people,” said Igor Grosu.