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Chisinau roundtable to eye Moldova’s accession to Customs Union

At the roundtable meeting entitled Russia-Moldova: dialogue for the Future that opens on Monday Russia will be represented by Farit Mukhametshin

CHISINAU, October 24 (Itar-Tass) — Moldova’s possible accession to the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan will be high on the agenda of a roundtable meeting in Chisinau focusing on the 200th anniversary of Russian-Moldovan relations, their problems and prospects.

At the roundtable meeting entitled Russia-Moldova: dialogue for the Future that opens on Monday Russia will be represented by Farit Mukhametshin, head of the federal agency for CIS affairs, compatriots residing abroad, and international humanitarian cooperation, and Grygory Karasin, Deputy Foreign Minister.

In early October Moldova’s largest Communist Party that controls over 40 seats in the parliament called for taking course for a Eurasian Union without abandoning its plans for European integration.

“The Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan that should gradually grow into a Eurasian Union began to emerge, when I was the president. I am very glad that these three countries will begin to act as such already beginning from January 1. All this has been done within the framework of the CIS, while the Commonwealth’s authority will only benefit from this,” Moldovan former president Vladimir Voronin told Itar-Tass.

“The European Union has big problems and nobody is waiting for Moldova there,” he said calling for “a bold political decision” to be taken.

Last week Moldova’s Social-Democratic Party addressed the Russian embassy with a request to hold an economic forum in the republic that will bring together economics and trade ministers, senior customs officers and representatives of economic circles of the Customs Union member-states and Moldova. The forum proposed governmental officials and economic agents to discuss opportunities and advantages of Moldova’s accession to the Customs Union.

Russian ambassador to Moldova Valery Kuzmin noted that this issue will be also discussed during the roundtable meeting that opens in Chisinau on Monday.