President of Moldova had a meeting with the President of Austria

At the Peace Forum held in Paris, Igor Dodon, President of the Republic of Moldova, met with Alexander Van der Bellen, President of the Republic of Austria, who holds the EU Presidency in the second half of 2018.

In the discussion, Igor Dodon found the dynamics of bilateral relations, including at the highest level. In this context, our head of state has specified that in the 26 years of diplomatic relations, Moldova and Austria have signed 16 bilateral agreements in the most diverse fields.

Austria, through the Public Development Agency, supports Moldova in the social and humanitarian spheres, but also in public administration - through the "Good governance" program. At present, in our country, with Austria's support, was realized over 30 projects amounting to about 30 mln. euro.

At the same time, approximately 100 companies with Austrian capital are operating in Moldova, with a total turnover of about 27 mln. euro. At this indicator, Austria holds the seventh place among the EU countries. Moldova has increased its exports to Austria from 27 million. euro, in 2016, to 41 million in 2017.

In the context of the discussion on foreign policy issues, the President of the Republic of Moldova told Mr. Van del Bellen that our country tends to develop balanced relations with the West and the East on the basis of the principle of neutrality. In this regard, Igor Dodon stressed that the experience of Austria is very useful for Moldova, which, since the 50's of the last century, is a neutral state that does not adhere to any kind of military blocks.