PRESIDENT DODON SAYS MOLDOVA CAN BECOME PLATFORM FOR WEST-EAST NEGOTIATION

Moldovan President Igor Dodon is attending the 17th Summit of the International Francophonie Organization [OIF, Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie] in Yerevan (Armenia).

"The Moldovan society is unique by its bilingualism and even trilingualism, as most of citizens speak the state Moldovan language, Russian and French or English equally well", the president said, speaking at the summit.

He said that the country's greatest treasure is its people.

"It is our communication qualities and cultural traditions, as well as our difficult history, that make Moldova a bridge country, a country for dialog between civilizations. This means we can and want to become a platform for negotiations between the West and the East. This is our basic strategy - we want to be friends both with Europe and the US and with Russia and other post-Soviet countries. I am absolutely sure that this idea will be supported by our foreign partners", Dodon stressed.

He said that Moldova has its national interests, which dictate the need of building equally balanced foreign economic policy.

"For our country the cooperation within various integration projects is a great blessing. We have free trade agreements with the EU, with CIS countries, as well as with Turkey and other states. This allows us to develop economy without involving into any geopolitical games. We aspire for a common Europe - from Lisbon to Vladivostok. This is the most important future project for us", the president stated.

According to him, Moldova is a traditionally French-speaking country and society.

"Even in Soviet times the French language was the first foreign language studied in Moldovan schools, Today, French remains number-one foreign language in Moldova. For Moldova and me personally, as a French-speaking person, the belonging to the great world family of French-speaking countries for development of our cultures and traditions is a particular pride", Dodon said.

He confirmed Moldova's interest to the continuation of active participation in the OIF programs and the exchange of experience with member countries in the field of education, science, culture, economy, environment and informational technologies. Also, Dodon spoke in support of the initiative "Free Together" and the creation of a Francophonie Network for Preventing Radicalism and Extremism that may lead to terrorism.

"At the same time we support the promotion of dialog of cultures and respect to cultural diversity, which are especially important at bringing up the young generation", the Moldovan president said.