The key expectations from the European Political Community Summit were discussed in Chișinău
The Institute for European Policies and Reforms (IPRE), in cooperation with the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), Open Society Foundations, Moldovan National Platform of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum and in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of the Republic of Moldova, organized today, 25th of May, a conference dedicated to the upcoming second Summit of the European Political Community (EPC).
The aim of the conference was to discuss the agenda and main expectations from the EPC Summit to be held in Bulboaca on the 1st of June 2023. During the event, several experts and officials from the EU, Moldova and Ukraine reflected on the role of the European Political Community for our region and Europe in general. The Conference was attended by more than 60 participants, including representatives of diplomatic missions of the EPC participating countries, civil society, academia and mass-media.
The conference was opened with a statement by Adrian Lupușor, Executive Director of the Expert-Grup and Facilitator of the National Platform of the EaP Civil Society Forum: “The EPC Summit is a historic event for our country, putting the Republic of Moldova at the epicentre of European diplomacy. It confirms once again the European perspective of our country, the aspirations of which have been voiced both in the “European Moldova” Assembly and externally. As a representative of civil society, I confirm our firm commitment to support the policies and reforms that bring us closer to the EU, but also to independently monitor the European course in order to help this process from the perspective of civil society. The European future of our country depends most directly on the quality of civil society’s involvement in the European integration process and on the sincere openness of the government in this regard. I believe we are moving in the right direction“.
A keynote address was also made by Nicu Popescu, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration: “This is the moment when we will have in Chisinau almost 50 European leaders, many of them will be in the Republic of Moldova for the first time and our objective is to strengthen the role of the Republic of Moldova in the family of European states. For the Republic of Moldova, diplomatic support and rooting in the European family are very important, but it is also important to have the opportunity to strengthen the social and energy aspects and the interconnections in the European area. For us, this is a forum for exchanges, for socialising, for building additional bridges. These relations are and will continue to be a cornerstone for our European path, for our EU accession path, since more than half of the EPC members are also member states of the EU. In the coming years, every step, every stage in our EU accession path must be supported and voted by every EU member state. In this sense, this summit is also an opportunity, it is an investment into our European future“.
The video recording of the public event is available in English here and in Romanian here.
This event was organised with the support and participation of the Open Society Foundation – Europe and Central Asia Programme.
