Tag: Moldova

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Moldova seeks deeper education ties with India 

On his first visit to India, Percium held discussions with Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and other academic representatives…reports Asian Lite News

Moldova is looking to strengthen and diversify its education partnership with India, focusing on attracting Indian students and fostering collaborative research across diverse fields, said the country’s Education Minister Dan Percium here on Tuesday. 

Percuim also highlighted that Moldovan universities could consider the possibility of setting up off-shore campuses in India over the long term. 

On his first visit to India, Percium held discussions with Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and other academic representatives. 

In an exclusive conversation with ANI, Percium outlined Moldova’s ambitions in education sector, emphasising its commitment to offering high-quality, affordable, and safe higher education opportunities for Indian students. 

“This is our first visit to India, and it’s a very important one. Moldova offers a modern and safe environment for students, coupled with quality and affordability in higher education. We currently host around 3,000 Indian students, primarily in our medical universities, and are keen to diversify this by adding technical courses like software engineering and business management,” Percium said. 

The Moldovan delegation explored possibilities for joint programs, student exchanges, and research collaborations. Discussions also revolved around creating opportunities for Moldovan students to study in India and gain practical experience through internships. 

Highlighting Moldova’s long-term vision, Percium added, “The current focus is on attracting Indian students. However, in the mid to long term, we can consider establishing Moldovan university campuses in India. This is still in the early stages, but this first visit has been highly productive. As the momentum builds, more opportunities will materialize.” 

Percium also detailed plans for collaboration, stating, “We envision programs where students spend part of their studies in Moldova, part in India, and perhaps even in a third European country. Such initiatives can provide students with diverse cultural and practical experiences, including internships to develop international skills.” 

He also pointed out Moldova’s access to extensive European research networks and funding, which could complement Indian universities’ expertise. “By working together, we can establish joint research funds and access larger European resources. Moldova’s traditional strengths, such as veterinary medicine and winemaking, can also find a place in collaborative efforts,” he added. 

Percium is accompanied by four Moldovian university representatives. The delegation included: Victoria Belous, representing State Pedagogical University; Vladimir Dolghii, Deputy Director, Moldova State University; Nina Putuntean, Head of the International Relations Office, Moldova Technical University; and Tatiana Gaugash, Head of Marketing Department at Academy of Economic Studies. 

Victoria Belous, representing the State Pedagogical University, shared that her university is keen to collaborate with Indian universities, not only in attracting students but also in areas like faculty exchange, teacher training, and research 

“We represent one of the oldest universities in Moldova, with over 80 years of experience. Our university offers innovative programs in fields such as animation, arts, and psychology, along with eight faculties, including one dedicated to languages,” she said. 

“We are keen to collaborate with Indian universities, not only in attracting students but also in areas like faculty exchange, teacher training, and research,” Belous noted. 

Meanwhile, Nina Putuntean, Head of the International Relations Office at Moldova Technical University, highlighted the university’s focus on fostering international collaborations. “We are here to promote the internationalisation of our university, not only by attracting students but also by enhancing research cooperation. Exchange programs for students and staff, as well as joint research projects, are our priorities,” she said. 

Putuntean also emphasised the importance of step-by-step progress in building relationships with Indian universities. “We are taking a phased approach, starting with joint research and academic exchanges, and will continue to strengthen these collaborations to benefit both countries,” she said. (ANI) 

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EU launches ‘historic’ membership talks with Ukraine, Moldova

European Union flags fly outside the European Commission building in Brussels, Belgium, on June 9, 2021. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong/IANS)

President Volodymyr Zelensky called it a “historic day” as officials from Kyiv and the EU’s 27 member states met in Luxembourg…reports Asian Lite News

The European Union on Tuesday kicked off accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova, setting the fragile ex-Soviet states on a long path toward membership that Russia has tried to block.

The landmark move signals in particular a vote of confidence in Kyiv’s future at a time when Moscow has momentum on the battlefield almost two and a half years into the Kremlin’s invasion.

“Dear friends, today marks the beginning of a new chapter in the relationship between Ukraine and the European Union,” Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said via videolink at the start of the talks.

President Volodymyr Zelensky called it a “historic day” as officials from Kyiv and the EU’s 27 member states met in Luxembourg.

“We will never be derailed from our path to a united Europe and to our common home of all European nations,” the Ukrainian leader wrote on social media.

Ukraine and later Moldova lodged their bids to join the EU in the aftermath of Russia’s assault in February 2022.

The opening of the talks marks just the beginning of a protracted process of reforms in Ukraine that is strewn with political obstacles and will likely take many years — and may never lead to membership.

Standing in the way along that journey will be not just Russia’s efforts at destabilization but reticence from doubters inside the EU, most notably Hungary.

But European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen called the opening of talks “very good news for the people of Ukraine, Moldova, and the entire European Union.”

“The path ahead will be challenging but full of opportunities,” she wrote on X on Tuesday.

So far, Ukraine has won plaudits for kickstarting a raft of reforms on curbing graft and political interference, even as war rages.

Ukraine’s lead negotiator, Deputy Prime Minister Olga Stefanishyna, vowed that Kyiv “will be able to complete everything before 2030” to join the bloc.

Russia’s war in Ukraine has reinvigorated a push in the EU to take on new members, after years in which countries particularly in the Western Balkans made little progress on their hopes to join.

The EU in December 2023 also granted candidate status to Georgia, another of Russia’s former Soviet neighbors.

It likewise approved accession negotiations with Bosnia and has talks ongoing with Serbia, Montenegro, Albania and North Macedonia.

The meetings with Ukraine and Moldova on Tuesday will set off a process of screening of how far laws in the countries already comply with EU standards and how much more work lies ahead.

Once that is done the EU then has to begin laying out conditions for negotiations on 35 subjects, ranging from taxation to environmental policy.

Stefanishyna said the next step should come in early 2025.

EU countries pushed to start the talks now before Hungary — the friendliest country to Russia in the bloc — takes over the EU’s rotating presidency next month.

Budapest has been opposed to pressing ahead with Kyiv’s membership bid, arguing that Ukraine was unfairly moving ahead for political reasons.

“From what I see here as we speak, they are very far from meeting the accession criteria,” Hungary’s Europe minister Janos Boka said on Tuesday.

Accepting Ukraine — a war-ravaged country of some 40 million people — would be a major step for the EU, and there are calls for the bloc to carry out reforms to streamline how it works before accepting new members.

The start of the talks resonates powerfully in Ukraine, as it was a desire for closer ties with the EU that sparked protests back in 2014 that eventually spiralled into the full-blown crisis with Russia.

The negotiations also come at a tense time in Moldova after the United States, Britain and Canada warned of a Russian “plot” to influence the country’s presidential elections in October.

Wedged between Ukraine and EU member Romania, Moldova’s pro-Western authorities frequently accuse the Kremlin of interfering in its internal affairs.

President Maia Sandu has accused Moscow, which has troops stationed in a breakaway region of the country, of aiming to destabilize Moldova ahead of the vote.

“Our future is within the European family,” Sandu wrote on X. “We are stronger together.”

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EU greenlights membership talks with Ukraine, Moldova 

European Union flags fly outside the European Commission building in Brussels, Belgium, on June 9, 2021. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong/IANS)

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, stated on X that “it’s clear these countries belong to the European family.”…reports Asian Lite News

The European Council has opened membership negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova, the President of the EU Council, Charles Michel informed on Thursday, CNN reported.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hailed the development calling it a “victory of Ukraine”.

“This is a victory for Ukraine. A victory for all of Europe. A victory that motivates, inspires, and strengthens,” Zelensky posted on X (formerly Twitter).

“History is made by those who don’t get tired of fighting for freedom,” he added.

Notably, Ukraine has held ambitions to join the European Union for more than a decade. The announcement by the European Council comes nearly two years after the bloc accepted Ukraine as a candidate state.

However, a few fundamental obstacles stand in the way of Ukraine joining the bloc and it could still be a decade until Kyiv joins the EU enjoying the benefits of full membership, according to CNN.

Ukraine still needs to meet the conditions of the Copenhagen Criteria – an opaque trio of requirements that the EU must be satisfied are met – before moving to the next stage of negotiations.

The criteria focus on whether or not a candidate country has a functioning free-market economy if the country’s institutions are fit to uphold European values such as human rights and the EU’s interpretation of the rule of law, and whether the country has a functioning, inclusive democracy, CNN reported.

Notably, these things are hard to prove for any country let alone Ukraine which is reeling under a state of war with Russia.

If Ukraine can meet the Copenhagen Criteria, EU and Ukrainian officials can start negotiating under the 35 Chapters of the Acquis, which lay out the accession conditions. After this, all chapters of negotiations need to be fully closed and signed off by every EU member state before being ratified by the EU parliament.

However, despite the remaining obstacles, Thursday’s announcement amounts to an important step for Ukraine amid the ongoing conflict, CNN reported.

Several European leaders have welcomed the development. Ukraine is one of nine countries currently seeking membership in the EU, along with Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Turkey.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, stated on X that “it’s clear these countries belong to the European family.”

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, called the decision “strategic” and “a day that will remain engraved in the history” of the European Union.

“Proud that we have lived up to our promises and delighted for our partners,” she stated.

Notably, Hungary and its Prime Minister Viktor Oban have proved to be the most significant ‘barrier’ to Ukraine’s EU funding and accession talks, CNN reported.

Earlier this week, Orban claimed that Ukraine still needs to meet three of the seven conditions necessary to greenlight accession talks and, therefore, said there was no current reason to negotiate EU membership for Ukraine.

Orban Thursday called the announcement that Ukraine was beginning accession negotiations “a completely senseless, irrational and incorrect decision,” adding that his country “did not participate in the decision today.”

“Hungary’s position is clear; Ukraine is not prepared to start negotiations on EU Membership,” Orban posted on X.

“On the other hand, 26 other countries insisted that a decision be made,” he stated. “Therefore, Hungary decided that if the 26 decide to do so, they should go their own way. Hungary does not want to share in this bad decision”. (ANI)

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NATO mulls supplying Moldova with weapons

Secretary of State for International Trade Liz Truss meets with Dan Tehan, Australian Trade Minister to discuss trade negotiations in the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office in London. Picture by Simon Dawson / No 10 Downing Street

According to UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, NATO members are talking about the possibility of ensuring that not only Ukraine, but also Moldova has modern defenses, reports Asian Lite News

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss says the United Kingdom and other NATO members are discussing the possibility of sending modern weaponry to Moldova.

“I would want to see Moldova equipped to Nato standard. This is a discussion we’re having with our allies,” Truss said in a Friday interview with The Telegraph.

According to Truss, NATO members are talking about the possibility of ensuring that not only Ukraine, but also Moldova has modern defenses.

If the military alliance agrees on the issue, NATO will provide weapons to Moldova in order to replace Soviet-era equipment and will also provide training to Moldovan military personnel, The Telegraph said on Friday. (ANI/Sputnik)

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Moldova applies for EU membership

The application will be sent to Brussels in the coming days, the president said…reports Asian Lite News

Moldova has officially applied for membership of the European Union, a week after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began.

The announcement came after the European Parliament expressed backing for a similar move by Kyiv.

Moldova’s President Maia Sandu said in a statement on Thursday that the country had signed “a request to join the European Union”.

“We want to live in peace, prosperity, be part of the free world,” she said. “While some decisions take time, others must be made quickly and decisively, and taking advantage of the opportunities that come with a changing world.”

Sandu, the prime minister and the parliamentary speaker all signed the document during a briefing in the capital, Chisinau, where pro-Russian and pro-EU politicians have vied for control since Moldova won independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

The application will be sent to Brussels in the coming days, the president said.

Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu hailed the announcement as “a day future generations will proudly relate to, it is the moment our country has irreversibly anchored itself in the European space”.

Moldova, one of the continent’s poorest countries, signed an association agreement with the EU in 2014, aimed at aligning it with the union’s political and economic standards. However, it has not received a guarantee of membership.

Fellow ex-Soviet republic Georgia also formally applied for membership of the bloc on Thursday.

“History has deemed the European choice of the Georgian people as its strategic aim,” Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said after signing the application letter.

Georgia last year had announced its intention to apply for EU membership in 2024.

Efforts from ex-Soviet countries to build closer ties with the West have long angered Russia. Moscow is fiercely opposed to the eastwards expansion of the EU and NATO, which it sees as a direct threat to Russia’s security.

The West has expressed concerns that Moldova and Georgia risk becoming possible targets for the Kremlin after Ukraine.

“We stand with Moldova and Georgia to defend their sovereignty and security,” French President Emmanuel Macron said last week, while his Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said France was “worried” about a possible Russian military offensive against the ex-Soviet nations.

The process of accession to the EU is expected to be long and involve large-scale reforms, provided the countries win candidate status.

In addition, all existing members have a veto on new additions.

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Moldova next on Russia’s list?

Pic credits Twitter @by_emb_bg

Putin’s war-mongering sidekick addressed security officials Wednesday while standing in front of a battle map that seems to show a planned operation into Moldova…reports Asian Lite News

Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko appears to have indicated Vladimir Putin’s forces have plans to invade Moldova, Daily Mail reported.

Putin’s war-mongering sidekick addressed security officials Wednesday while standing in front of a battle map that seems to show a planned operation from southern Ukraine into its tiny neighbour.

The map also showed proposed battle plans for Russian troops across the country.

It detailed Russian lines of attack heading into Ukraine, some of which have materialised in the first few days of the invasion — such as forces storming towards Kyiv from the north, and towards Kherson from Crimea, Daily Mail reported.

Pic credits president.gov.by

But they also showed off several attacks that have yet to come to pass — with one even appearing to point from the port city of Odessa into Moldova, suggesting Russia plans to march troops into Ukraine’s neighbour.

Meanwhile Putin’s military has suffered an embarrassing string of defeats while trying to carry out precision strikes on key targets in an apparent effort to win the war quickly and convincingly.

That has raised fears that he is now about to deploy Russian heavy armour and artillery in an attempt to brute-force his way to victory — a strategy that could cause huge civilian casualties.

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