Diaspora projects discussed in Prague by Igor Grosu with his counterparts from Portugal and Italy
On the sidelines of the Conference of Speakers of Parliaments of the European Union Member States in Prague (Czech Republic), the head of the Moldovan legislature had meetings with the Deputy Speaker of the Portuguese Parliament Edite Estrela and the Speaker of the Lower House of the Italian Parliament Lorenzo Fontana. Discussions focused in particular on the development of the bilateral legal framework with these countries in order to enhance social protection measures for Moldovan citizens living in Portugal and Italy.
"We spoke to them about Moldova's European course and the progress made in implementing the European Commission's recommendations and aligning with the acquis communautaire. We reconfirmed Moldova's commitment to have strong state institutions that act independently, with integrity and professionalism. An important topic on the agenda was the Moldovan communities settled in Portugal and Italy. The Republic of Moldova has a large number of Moldovans in these two countries. Thus, we agreed to continue our efforts to improve the legal framework, but also other projects for the benefit of our compatriots", wrote Igor Grosu on his Facebook page.
According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, about 250,000 Moldovan citizens live in Italy and 26,000 in Portugal.
