The informal meeting of directors general for consular affairs of the EU member states was held in Bucharest on Wednesday and Thursday in the context of Romania's presidency of the Council of the European Union.
According to a press release issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) to AGERPRES, the debates of the meeting held at the Romanian National Bank were opened by Laura Elena Chiorean, Secretary General in the MAE, and by the Director General of the Consular Department.
Both officials have highlighted the usefulness of the member states' consular cooperation, especially in risk areas.
The main topic of the meeting was the management of consular crisis situations and cooperation between member states for the purpose of consular assistance for European Union citizens in third countries, namely burden-sharing mechanisms designed to facilitate their access to consular assistance and protection, including in areas in which their countries are not represented at diplomatic and consular level, but also the possibilities of mutual support with states that have similar visions, especially in hard-to-reach geographical areas, the MAE points out.
In fact, the discussion topics are constantly present on the debate agenda of the Council of the European Union's Working Party on Consular Affairs (COCON).
Another central theme of the talks, the quoted source informs, was to level the tools and work platforms to ensure extensive cooperation at consular level in the management of consular crisis situations between the member states.
Also attending along the delegations of the member states were representatives of the European Commission and the European External Action Service, as well as officials from the United States of America and Canada.