Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kostiantyn Hryschenko held talks with Moldovan Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Iurie Leanca while on a working visit to Moldova, during which the parties welcomed the settlement of the issue of a land plot near the section of a highway near the village of Palanca (Moldova).
The information policy department of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry reported on Thursday that the main focus of the meeting was the prospects for the development of bilateral cooperation between Ukraine and Moldova. In practical terms, the parties agreed to speed up work on the mutual recognition of the right of ownership and the completion of the demarcation of the Ukrainian-Moldovan state border.
Special attention was paid to the European integration of Ukraine and Moldova, in particular, the prospects for the liberalization of the visa regime and the creation of a free trade area.
"Confirming our common strategic goal - EU integration - today we signed an important document that will ensure the overall coordination of efforts by Kyiv and Chisinau in this area - a joint statement on cooperation in the field of European integration," Hryschenko said.
The ministers also discussed the strengthening of bilateral cooperation within international organizations. Chairman of the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers Hryschenko expressed his readiness to continue active cooperation with Moldova through the implementation of a program of cooperation between the Council of Europe and Moldova.
"I'm confident that the deepening of cooperation between Moldova and the Council of Europe will help promote the country's democratic movement and solve difficult problems currently facing Moldovan democracy. I think that the experience gained in the Council of Europe in addressing similar problematic issues, as well as the significant expert potential of the Venice Commission, will significantly contribute to making progress," Hryschenko said.
In addition, the sides agreed to strengthen cooperation in the context of Ukraine's forthcoming presidency of the OSCE in 2013 and the current Moldovan presidency of the GUAM, the Foreign Ministry said.
As reported, a document determining and fixing the boundaries of the section of the Odesa-Reni highway near the village of Palanca (Moldova), as well as the land plot it crosses, was signed in Chisinau (Moldova) on June 30. The road section was de jure transferred to the ownership of Ukraine on November 18, 2001. At the same time, an agreement of determining the boundaries of the section has not yet been signed.
In compliance with a border agreement dated 1999, Moldova gave Ukraine a 7.7-kilometer-long segment of the Odesa-Reni motorway, but continued owning the territory adjacent to the road in the village of Palanca.
