April 18 (SeeNews) - The Supreme Council of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan has granted an observer status to Moldova, the Moldovan president Igor Dodon said.
"Moldova is the first country that has received this honour. Several countries have put forward initiatives for signing Memorandums of Cooperation with the Eurasian Economic Union, Free Trade Agreements or other forms of cooperation with EAEU," Dodon said in a statement issued by the president's press office on Friday. "Dozens of agreements have been signed in this regard, including the Memorandum of Cooperation with Moldova on April 3, 2017."
Igor Dodon pointed out that the move does not mean Moldova will become a member of the EAEU right away. The observer status allows Moldova to participate in the organisation's activities but not in the voting or decision making process.
Also, Dodon said that the observer status does not come into disagreement with Moldova's Association Agreement with the EU.
The memorandum on cooperation with the Russia-led EAEU envisages the creation of a joint working group comprising representatives of union member states and Moldova. The agreement aims to increase bilateral trade and investments between the signatory countries, according to the
The tiny landlocked ex-Soviet state of Moldova has a population of some 3 million people. The country has strong historical and political ties with its western neighbour Romania, with more than 75% of the population speaking Romanian. However, some 10% of the population living predominantly in the internationally unrecognised separatist republic of Transnistria, which broke away from Moldova in the 1990s, speak Russian and identify themselves as Russians.