MFA: Slovakia Becomes Partner in Project to Support Reforms in Moldova

Bratislava, 5 August (TASR) - Slovakia has become a partner in a new international project to support Moldova's accession process to the European Union (EU), the Foreign Ministry's communications department told TASR on Wednesday, adding that this represents a further specific contribution by Slovakia as part of its long-term coordination of Moldova's path towards the EU. "We're ready to share our experience of the transformation process and the Slovak Republic's accession to the European Union. I'm convinced that our expertise in the areas of institution-building, the adoption of European legislation and the functioning of the single market will contribute to Moldova's successful progress towards European integration," said Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar (Smer-SD). In June this year, he also held talks in Chisinau with senior Moldovan officials on specific forms of Slovak support. A new international project, 'Improving Moldova's Access to the EU Single Market and Supporting the Reform of State-owned Enterprises', with a total budget of €6 million, brings together the expertise of three European development agencies - alongside the Slovak Agency for International Development Cooperation (SAMRS), the partners are a French agency called Expertise France and Czech Republic's CzechAid. The final phase of project preparations was concluded on 23 July with the signing of an agreement in Paris by SAMRS director Michal Cornak on behalf of Slovakia. The project thus officially moves into the implementation phase, scheduled to last 36 months. Under the SlovakAid brand, Slovakia will contribute to activities totalling €1.75 million aimed at strengthening the technical and institutional capacities of Moldova's Economic Development and Digitisation Ministry and its affiliated institutions. The main areas of cooperation will be the introduction and oversight of the application of EU single market rules in the Moldovan context, and the improvement of the management, administration and systematic performance evaluation of state-owned enterprises. am