Poland is ready to help Moldova on its path to the European integration, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski has told journalists at the end of his [10-11 July] visit to Moldova.

Sikorski said that Poland would invite Moldovan diplomats for training and [Moldovan] policemen would have the possibility of attending training at the Polish police academy.

"We are planning to create the group "Moldova's Friends", which is designed to become an effective mechanism of rapprochement with the EU. In addition, the Polish government is going to increase its annual financial assistance for Moldova. Poland is set to continue backing the Moldovan authorities' actions to ensure control and security at the Moldovan-Ukrainian border, in particular, its Dniester segment," Sikorski said.

He called on Moldova to use as much as possible the possibilities offered by the Eastern Partnership which was set up by Poland and Sweden and which is aimed at strengthening the EU's cooperation with Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.

"We back Moldova's territorial integrity and will do our best to help it integrate into the EU. Even now, we see Moldova as a European partner and not only as an EU neighbour," Sikorski said.

Moldovan Foreign and European Integration Minister Andrei Stratan thanked Poland for its assistance and said Moldova needs the support of the EU member states in the negotiating process on a new legal document to be signed with the EU.

Stratan said that Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin would pay a visit to Poland by late 2008 in order to strengthen Moldovan-Polish relations.

"For our part, we have invited the Polish prime minister [Donald Tusk] to attend a summit of the Central European Initiative, the chairmanship of which is held by Moldova and which will be conducted in Moldova in the autumn of 2008," Stratan said.

The ministers signed a declaration on the creation of the Moldovan-Polish European Integration Forum.

Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski (of Poland) resented the Eastern Partnership Program yesterday in Brussels, which according to Sikorski is to lay the foundations for potential further expansion of the European Union.

The plan to increase cooperation with Ukraine, Georgia as well as Moldavia, Azerbaijan and Armenia was warmly accepted by the EU's largest states.

The gradual expansion of the EU is one of the main objectives of Polish politicians, as it would mean that Poland will no longer be the border of the EU with the "wild East" but will be surrounded by predictable, diplomatic neighbors. This idea will also be strongly promoted when Poland takes over the EU presidency in 2011.

The warm welcome of the plan was the result of long negotiations, during which Poland had to withdraw from plans such as financial aid for former Soviet Union republics, as well as any promises concerning their accession.