Ladies and Gentlemen,

Honorable Audience,

Let me thank Prof. Anna Benaki for this opportunity to share with you my visions and opinions concerning the European perspective of the SEECP countries.

The participation of the Moldovan Parliament in today's event is of key importance to us.

The European integration perspective is one of the milestones that unconditionally guide all the SEECP countries, including Moldova. It represents a commitment for the future: a commitment for a Europe of peace, stability and security, for a Europe of equal opportunities, for a Europe strong in values, and strong in its diversity, for a Europe which offers its people a secure homeland and provides assistance and hope for other nations.

In this framework, the Cooperation Process in South-Eastern Europe appears as an efficient tool to contribute to a coherent pro-European movement of the countries of the region, aiming at a sustainable economic growth, promoting democracy and respect for human rights, as well as ensuring security and lasting stability through an enhanced South-East European regional cooperation. In this context, the regional co-operation provides SEECP countries with more focused assistance and expertise on EU integration, transforming the South-East European Cooperation process into a forum for dialogue, for political and economic consultations on the common concerns of the region.

Moldova has always belonged to Europe, we share the same history, the same values and aspirations, which crystallized to make our European integration objective a priority and irreversible. The pro-European choice has become an axiom for domestic politics, a direction-setting factor for the new political elite of Moldova. The best proof that the parties represented in the Moldovan Parliament have the political maturity and the flexibility needed for promoting the interests of the whole country, is the unanimous vote on March 31st of 2005 of the first document of the new legislature, namely the Declaration on the Political Partnership to Achieve the Objective of European Integration of the Republic of Moldova. By signing this Declaration, Parliament committed itself to the responsible cooperation between the government and opposition, stability of domestic politics and strengthening of Moldova's independence. Thus, the Parliament has set the following priorities:

• Observance of democratic standards and the rule of law as basic preconditions for any political and institutional reform;
• Establishing a relevant framework and mechanism to streamline the harmonisation of the national legislation with the principles of the Acquis Communautaire;
• Boosting social and economic development, strengthening administrative capacities, ensuring a functional socially-oriented market economy with a favourable investment climate, fighting corruption, etc.;
• Finding a peaceful and final resolution of the Transnistrian problem on the basis of the country's Constitution and international law standards.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I want to use this opportunity to thank all of you for supporting Moldova's European integration aspirations and sincere desire to contribute to Southeast-European regional enhancement by offering Moldova the observer status in 2004. Republic of Moldova is very proud to become SEECP full-fledged member with your support in nearest future.

Bearing in mind the importance of this regional membership, we are determined to work together with the SEECP, as a framework for concerted efforts to strengthen the ties and cooperation among the participating states, to create the conditions for the prosperity of all the countries in the region, in an environment of peace, security, good neighborliness and stability.

Speaking about European perspectives of the SEECP countries, I would like to emphasize the importance of new approaches, models and formulas, which can provide the effective interaction between SEECP member - states in the following strategic spheres:

• getting closer to the European values and standards
• serving an strategically important platform for EU integration of the SEECP countries
• enhancing synergy between the SEECP and the European Union or institutional consolidation of the Southeast-European Cooperation Process
• promoting a clear and fundamental mechanism of cooperation in the regional foreign - trade and energy sectors, taking into consideration recent realities. In this context, the energy community would represent a practical leverage that could ease the way for integration of South Eastern Europe countries into the European Union
• elaborating common approach to counteract organized crime, terrorism, corruption and trafficking that threats to democratic stability, rule of law, market economy and the development of civil societies, and require national and trans-national responses by the SEECP participating States.
• consolidating the parliamentary dimension of the SEECP.

At the same time, with reference to the prospects of the Moldovan - European relations, I need to mention that the Moldova-EU Action Plan, signed in February of 2005, derived from Partnership and Cooperation Agreement and the European Commission's Communication on Wider Europe Neighborhood. Although this political document does not go beyond the vague and general PCA provisions regarding the political prospects of the country, the Action Plan currently represents a "roadmap", the successful implementation of which will pave the way to a new format of relations with the European Community. Encouraged by the "EU acknowledgement of Moldova's European aspirations", the political leadership and the civil society have voiced their irreversible stance in favor of European integration. I would like to note here that this vector was selected with a clear understanding of the difference between "integration" and "accession", which are often confused. Moldova perceives its European integration first of all as a domestic task of modernising its state structure. This is not a "cover up" statement for the event that Moldova's EU membership prospects are postponed until further notice. The Moldovan authorities chose not to passively wait for the future to come, but have adopted an active and pragmatic stance to make good use of every opportunity of integration. Political, legislative and socio-economic reforms conducted today are in essence European, and are based on taking over, adapting to the local realities and applying to the national systems of European legislative quanta and socio-economic models.

After Romania accedes to the Union, the new EU border should not become a new delimitation line for Moldova, as the new context will place us in a very sensitive situation. Moreover, I am confident that the European Union will benefit along with Moldova from these measures. Moldova will benefit not only by boosting its socio-economic and political development, but also by consolidating its statehood, thus opening new dimensions for the resolution of the Transnistrian conflict. And this fact fully corresponds to the Union's declared goal of having prosperous and politically stable neighbors. I am confident that, in spite of its enlargement concerns, the European Union will not delay a revision of its relations with my country.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Europe is growing - but the bigger it gets the smaller it seems… we listen to the same music… watch the same films…have the same problems and challenges…

Who knows better than WE how to live, what to dream about, what to strive for, what to be happy and sad about…

But, behind all this, WE TOGETHER, EU and its actual neighbors, share the same responsibility for our common European Future...There cannot be any "winners" or "losers" as there cannot be any "strangers" and "hosts". All will be "participants", "winners" and "hosts". No matter when one came, come or is coming. The issue at stake is our common European future.

Thank You for Your attention.