New Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration sworn in

Chisinau, 29 Jan. /MOLDPRES/- New Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Mihai Popșoi took the oath of office today before President Maia Sandu and Prime Minister Dorin Recean.

The ceremony began with the singing of the national anthem of the Republic of Moldova. Maia Sandu wished the new minister success and set the main priorities.

"Mihai Popșoi has a solid academic training and stood out through his intense activity on the platform of parliamentary diplomacy. He contributed significantly to establishing and strengthening the relations of the Republic of Moldova with other states or with international organizations. He is known by the development partners of the Republic of Moldova and worked together with other colleagues of the government to increase the trust of the partners in the Republic of Moldova. Our goals in the foreign policy remain the same: to take decisive steps on the path of European integration and, of course, to represent the interests of the Republic of Moldova, the interests of our citizens. We have important actions to take in order to start the accession negotiations to the European Union, and even if we have a separate institution that will deal with this process, the role of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs remains important. Our relationship with Romania remains a priority and the expectation is to carry out very important projects for the Republic of Moldova. Another priority is continued solidarity with Ukraine. I want to remind you that Ukraine is the country that helps us protect our peace, and we are obliged to do everything to make Ukraine last. Of course, we have many development partners from many friendly states with whom we must continue to work and promote the interests of the country and the interests of the citizens of the Republic of Moldova", said the head of state.

Recean welcomed the new minister to the government and thanked him for the support on the parliamentary platform. "I want to thank you that you have helped the Government a lot in this foreign policy effort and especially on the European integration. On Thursday, in Parliament, we will request to approve the modification of the Government's structure and we will have a new deputy prime minister for European integration without a portfolio. He will lead our European integration effort and lead the European Integration Office respectively. We have to work on both dimensions and to achieve the objectives that the president has set", said Recean.

Popșoi will serve as the head of Moldovan diplomacy after the departure of Nicu Popescu.