55

News

Foreign minister: We must support Moldova and Georgia

admin
April 7th, 2014


This article is more than 10 years old.

Eastern European pair are expected to sign EU trade and co-operation agreements this June

From April 7-9, the foreign minister, Martin Lidegaard (R), will travel to Moldova and Georgia as part of ongoing efforts to support the two nations' bid to be included in co-operation and trade agreements with the EU.

Before travelling to the two eastern European countries, which are both expected to sign the EU-association agreements in June, Lidegaard will visit the German foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in Berlin on April 7.

“The goal of the visit is to send a strong signal about Denmark and the EU’s support for Moldova and Georgia,” Lidegaard said in a press release.

“The two nations have chosen to maintain a European path, and they want, despite being under pressure in various ways, co-operation and free trade agreements with the EU.”

Lidegaard went on to contend that an agreement with the EU would strengthen democracy, growth and employment in the two countries.

READ MORE: Denmark signs UN weapons treaty

Both nations making progress
During his stay, Lidegaard will meet with the political leaders of the two nations, civil society representatives and beneficiaries of Danish aid through the bilateral aid program for its EU neighbours, Naboskabsprogrammet.

“There is still a way to go, but both countries have made progress, which is positive,” Lidegaard said.

“In Georgia we have seen two examples of peaceful power transition in recent years, and in Moldova they have implemented reform within freedom of speech and the judicial sector.”

Lidegaard will open a green development conference in Moldova together with the Moldovan prime minister, and in Georgia he will meet the Danish representatives from the European Union Monitoring Mission.


Share

Most popular

Subscribe to our newsletter

Sign up to receive The Daily Post

















Latest Podcast

A survey carried out by Megafon for TV2 has found that 71 percent of parents have handed over children to daycare in spite of them being sick.

Moreover, 21 percent of those surveyed admitted to medicating their kids with paracetamol, such as Panodil, before sending them to school.

The FOLA parents’ organisation is shocked by the findings.

“I think it is absolutely crazy. It simply cannot be that a child goes to school sick and plays with lots of other children. Then we are faced with the fact that they will infect the whole institution,” said FOLA chair Signe Nielsen.

Pill pushers
At the Børnehuset daycare institution in Silkeborg a meeting was called where parents were implored not to bring their sick children to school.

At Børnehuset there are fears that parents prefer to pack their kids off with a pill without informing teachers.

“We occasionally have children who that they have had a pill for breakfast,” said headteacher Susanne Bødker. “You might think that it is a Panodil more than a vitamin pill, if it is a child who has just been sick, for example.”

Parents sick and tired
Parents, when confronted, often cite pressure at work as a reason for not being able to stay at home with their children.

Many declare that they simply cannot take another day off, as they are afraid of being fired.

Allan Randrup Thomsen, a professor of virology at KU, has heavily criticised the parents’ actions, describing the current situation as a “vicious circle”.

“It promotes the spread of viruses, and it adds momentum to a cycle where parents are pressured by high levels of sick-leave. If they then choose to send the children to daycare while they are still recovering, they keep the epidemic going in daycares, and this in turn puts a greater burden on the parents.”