The Invitation

The President of Lithuania has been invited to come to Chisinau to attend the Summit of GUUAM, a regional organization uniting Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and Moldova, to be held here on April 22. Today, that invitation of Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin's was handed in by Moldovan Deputy Premier, Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrei Stratan to his Lithuanian colleague Antanas Valiolis who has come for a two-day official visit to this republic. The two ministers held negotiations today. The sides have agreed to open each other's diplomatic missions in Chisinau and Vilnius "to further promote bilateral cooperation to bring Moldova closer to European standards and to realize its European integration objectives", the ministerial press release said. Mr. Valionis confirmed his country's readiness to help Moldova implement European principles, and pointed out the need for working out a mechanism of close interaction between Moldovan and Lithuanian ministries, and for regular consultations between the Ministers of Foreign Affairs. The parties exchanged opinions concerning the necessity to enlarge the format of Transnistrian talks and to revise the status of the peacekeeping contingent deployed in the eastern Moldovan region.