Brussels, Nov. 23 (Interfax-Ukraine) – European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Fule has praised the outcome achieved by Moldova and Ukraine during their talks on the situation at the state border near the village of Palanca.
"I welcome the outcome of last Friday’s meeting in Chisinau between representatives of the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, [who were] called in at the joint initiative of the European Union and the United States of America to discuss the situation at the Ukrainian-Moldovan state border near the village of Palanca. Solutions to such issues should be sought through negotiation in a peaceful manner and in a good neighbourly spirit, and not through unilateral action," reads a report.
Fule noted that he was "encouraged" by the constructive atmosphere of the discussions conducted in Chisinau and the responsible attitude of Moldovan Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Popov and Ukrainian Ambassador to Moldova Serhiy Pirozhkov, who agreed to seek a solution through dialogue, at the soonest possible convenience and without any pre-conditions.
"The European Union stands ready to provide technical expertise in order to facilitate such a dialogue," Fule noted.
The Moldovan authorities earlier demanded explanations from Ukraine, which they said had unilaterally removed border posts on the Ukrainian-Moldovan border near Palanca. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, in turn, said the Ukrainian side had acted in compliance with bilateral agreements, and that it had informed Moldova about its intentions to remove the posts several times. The posts were placed about 100 meters from the borderline marked on corresponding maps. According to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, this mistake was discovered in 2008 and Ukraine had many times asked Chisinau to correct it.
