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Minister of Foreign Affairs Bogdan Aurescu participated, on Thursday, in the opening of the first edition of "The European Union's External Relations and the Global Order" International Conference, by presenting an analysis on the future of the North-Atlantic Alliance and the transatlantic relationship, shows a press release of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) sent to AGERPRES.
The event, with the theme "New transatlantic relations and the perspectives of the global order", was organized by the Faculty of European Studies at Babes-Bolyai University in western Cluj-Napoca, in partnership with the Representation of the European Commission in Romania and in collaboration with the European Democratic Culture Initiative think-tank, agerpres.ro confirms.
In relation to the current security context, Aurescu analyzed the process of reflection on the future of the organization, NATO 2030, led by the Secretary General of the Alliance, designed to strengthen the capacity to respond effectively to current and future security challenges and that will contribute to the development of a new Strategic Concept of the Alliance.
The Minister outlined the priority directions for the next period in order to consolidate these measures, stressing the need to continue the process of strengthening NATO's defense and deterrence posture, evoking the current worrying situation in the Black Sea area, especially in the context of Russia's "assertive" behavior.
Aurescu recalled that an extraordinary jumbo NATO ministerial meeting, at the level of ministers of defense and foreign affairs was held on Wednesday, with the participation of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, at which "we assessed the situation in Afghanistan and we decided to begin the withdrawal of US troops and of the forces of the Resolute Support Mission from May 1. We also discussed the worrying situation in Ukraine's proximity, reiterating Romania's support for Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty, and stressed the need for the Alliance to continue to strengthen the defense and deterrence posture on the Eastern Flank, at the Black Sea".
Aurescu called for increased efforts, especially at the EU level, to resolve protracted conflicts in the region, a priority consistently pursued by Romania, to combat the Black Sea insecurity arc.
The Foreign Minister also spoke about the importance of supporting international efforts dedicated to increasing strategic resilience and combating hybrid threats, also addressing the need to develop innovative defense capabilities and new technologies. In this context, he referred to Romania's initiative to establish and host a Euro-Atlantic Center for Resilience, dedicated to NATO, the EU and to partner states.
