Amb. István Gyarmati, President of the Centre for Democracy Public Foundation and colleagues of the ICDT made an official visit to Moldova in the framework of the „Promoting Moldova’s EU Aspirations” project, between 1-9 July 2013.

Following up on the work started during their previous visits, the delegation met with several high ranking Moldovan officials, along with Hungarian Ambassador Mátyás Szilágyi.

Among others, they held discussions with Deputy Prime Minister Eugen Carpov, US Ambassador William Moser and other diplomats, outgoing Head of the EU Delegation Dirk Schübel about recent developments in the region, past and further possible assistance of ICDT.

During their meeting with Deputy Minister of Justice Sabina Cerbu, they learnt about the ongoing reform process of the justice sector and the draft legislation on the ombudsman institution under development.

Amb. Gyarmati shared his remarks and international experiences on the draft law on the National Security Council with Presidential Adviser for Security Issues Alexei Barbaneagra.

This was further discussed with Foreign Minister Natalia Gherman where the preparation of the National Counter-Terrorism Strategy was also talked over. Amb. Gyarmati also consulted representatives of the Information and Security Service who are in charge of the elaboration of the document.

Further developing their previous idea, Minister of Internal Affairs Dorin Pavel Recean shared his suggestions on the focus of the anticipated trainings for the Moldovan law enforcement officials.

The ICDT delegation presented the Centre’s proposals for their further work in the region and matched their ideas with Country Director Kent Larson of the USAID Regional Representative Office.

During a visit to Tiraspol, they shared ICDT’s current plans on contributing to the development of the Transnistria region with Chief Negotiator Dr. Nina Shtanski and representatives of local NGOs.

A major development of the visit was meeting representatives of both Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Tiraspol and Chisinau where they agreed on organizing workshops on sharing best practices and enhancing business relations with their Hungarian counterparts.

Another new feature of the Centre’s work in Moldova was the cooperation agreed on with Governor (Bashkan) of Gagauzia Mihail Formuz during a visit in Comrat. ICDT experts are planning to study the development and the functioning of the autonomy of the region to be able to use the experience in other similar cases.