First round of negotiations on Moldova-EU association agreement to be held in Chisinau today 12 January 2010

The first round of negotiations on the Moldova-EU association agreement will be held in Chisinau today, 12 January.

The event will start with a plenary meeting, after which European and Moldovan experts will bring together into four working groups: 1. Political dialogue and the reforms, cooperation in the foreign policy and security fields; 2. Economic sector and financial cooperation; 3. Justice, freedom and security; 4. Inter-human contacts.

Natalia Gherman, deputy minister of foreign affairs and European integration, will represent Moldova at the talks.

The EU representative will be Gunnar Wiegand, head of the unit for Russia, Eastern Europe, South Caucasus and Central Asia of the Directorate General for External Relations of the European Commission.

Moldova's government said the treaty would enable Moldova to integrate with the EU politically and economically. They also expressed hope that this would lead to the liberalization of visa rules before 2012 and would be instrumental in setting up a free trade zone between Moldova and the EU.