The visit of Afghan officials to the Republic of Moldova took place because a State Secretary from the Ministry of Agriculture had not informed himself about the country’s policy regarding relations with the Taliban regime, President Maia Sandu said during the “Cabinetul din umbra” program on Jurnal TV.
According to the head of state, officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs relied on the reputation of the public official who submitted the request for issuing visas.
Maia Sandu said the incident should be followed by disciplinary sanctions, describing it as unacceptable that high-ranking officials are not aware of the country’s foreign policy positions.
“Based on the information I have at the moment, a State Secretary from the Ministry of Agriculture did not check what the policy of the Republic of Moldova is regarding the Afghan regime. And this is strange. On the other hand, some officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, when they received an official request from another ministry, assumed — even though the procedures did not require consultation — that this rather unusual request was supported and confirmed by a person holding a public position, by a State Secretary. The information did not reach other people, and this is how the incident happened,” Maia Sandu said.
The president called it “shameful” that officials holding important positions in the state do not familiarize themselves with Moldova’s foreign policy toward different countries.
“If additional information becomes available at some point, we will discuss it. For now, everyone must be sanctioned so that such incidents do not happen again. At least this is what I heard from the Government — that disciplinary sanctions will follow,” Sandu stated.
Earlier, Agriculture State Secretary Vasile Sarban told the Realitatea Media Group that the visit of the Afghan delegation linked to the Taliban authorities was initiated after a request from a Moldovan company producing phytosanitary products and exporting them to Uzbekistan.
According to the official, the Moldovan company informed the ministry about its interest in expanding its sales market to Afghanistan, while representatives from the Afghan administration wanted to visit Moldova to see how the phytosanitary products are manufactured.