Friday, June 21, 2013, in Chisinau under the auspices of the Congress of Local Authorities of Moldova (CALM) was held the meeting with representatives of the Association of Local Authorities from Lithuania. The event that was attended by about 30 representatives of local governments from Moldova and Lithuania aimed at sharing the experience of Lithuania in the process of decentralization and strengthening of local autonomy and the establishment of partnerships between representatives of the Association of Local Authorities from Lithuania and Moldova.

In the beginning of the meeting CALM Executive Director, Mr. Viorel Furdui welcomed the initiative and encouraged the participants to be as active as possible in further discussions in order to identify points of common interest between the representatives of local authorities from Moldova and Lithuania.

Mr. Bropnis Rope, Mayor of Ignalina, former president of the Association of Local Authorities of Lithuania and Mr. Gediminas Cesonis, Head of Directorate for Regional Policy of the Ministry of Interior have presented the Lithuanian local public administration system and the process of decentralization, local public finance as well as regional development and inter-municipal cooperation.

Mrs. Roma Zakaitiene, Director of the Association of Local Authorities of Lithuanian spoke to the participants about the role of the Association of Local Authorities in Lithuania in the process of decentralization noting that ‘the opinion of the Association of local authorities is the most representative one due to the fact that it best reflects realities that communities are facing on daily basis’.

Mr. Arunas Grazulis, EU Advisor of the Association of Local Authorities of Lithuanian told representatives of local authorities from Moldova about the possibilities of developing partnerships, creating databases and how to access funds.

At the end of the event parties have exchanged extensive views on the Moldovan-Lithuanian relations and prospects for future collaboration with the possibility of signing a cooperation agreement at the next meeting, which is set to take place in Vilnius.