Luxembourg Reiterates Full Support for Moldova's EU Membership Bid

On Thursday 13 October 2022, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of the Republic of Moldova, Nicu Popescu, paid a working visit to Luxembourg.

The Moldovan Foreign Minister was received by Luxembourg's Minister for Foreign and European Affairs, Jean Asselborn, for a bilateral meeting at the Mansfeld building.

First, the ministers took stock of the bilateral relations, which they described as excellent, while discussing ways to strengthen relations, particularly in economic terms.

The ministers then had an exchange of views on recent developments regarding the Russian military aggression against Ukraine. Minister Asselborn and his counterpart strongly condemned the Russian missile strikes on several Ukrainian cities and their civilian populations. In this regard, Minister Asselborn stressed the importance of the support provided by the European Union (EU) to Ukraine as well as the implementation of European sanctions against Russia.

Furthermore, Ministers Asselborn and Popescu welcomed the fact that the United Nations General Assembly condemned by a historic majority the Russian annexations of the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia in the territory of the Russian Federation Russia, contrary to international law. 143 of the 193 Member States voted for a resolution to this effect on Wednesday 12 October 2022 in New York.

The humanitarian situation in Moldova, following the reception of more than 100,000 refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine, was also discussed. In this context, Minister Asselborn recalled the commitment of the Luxembourg Red Cross and Caritas in the country.

The consequences of the war in Ukraine on food and energy security in the world, and more particularly in Moldova, were also on the agenda. In this context, Minister Popescu also took stock of the domestic political situation by addressing the frozen conflict in Transnistria. Similarly, the ministers expressed concern about the security situation prevailing around the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine.

With regard to Moldova's European aspirations, the ministers discussed the way forward for Moldova to join the European Union following the decision of 23 June 2022 to grant the country the status of a candidate state for the European Union. Minister Asselborn took the opportunity to reiterate Luxembourg's full support for Moldova in its rapprochement with the EU. As part of this discussion, the ministers also discussed the new format of European cooperation, the European Political Community, as a new platform for intergovernmental cooperation between Moldova and EU Member States.