Romania and Moldova voiced their mutual interest in the development of bilateral relations in a pragmatic manner, said the Moldovan President's Office in a press release on Thursday.
According to the release, the current phase in the relations of cooperation between the two neighboring countries and the prospects for the development of the bilateral dialogue were the topics tackled by Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin and visiting Romanian Foreign Minister Cristian Diaconescu on Thursday.
The two voiced their hope that a pragmatic development of bilateral relations will help resolve problems existing in the bilateral dialogue, Xinhua reported.
The Romanian foreign minister noted that the successful reforms by the Republic of Moldova could help align the country to the European standards, and said Romania takes interest in facilitating an association agreement between the Republic of Moldova and the European Union in the future.
Voronin said the Republic of Moldova is ready to keep on strengthening the cooperative relations with Romania in various areas, including the bilateral political dialogue. He underscored the need to sign the Border Treaty and the Basic Treaty, which will contribute to the expansion and strengthening of the bilateral legal framework.
Relations between Moldova and Romania are rather special, as the two countries share a fairly common historical background. But the two countries have experienced many ups and downs in their relationship since Moldova's independence in 1991, and they have so far been unable to reach agreement on a basic bilateral treaty.
Diaconescu paid a working visit to the Republic of Moldova on Thursday, during which he also met with his Moldovan counterpart Andrei Stratan.
