Premium
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Teodor Melescanu, on Saturday, January 26, sent a message on the occasion of the 25th anniversary since Romania signed the Partnership for Peace (PfP), an event that he called "one of the defining episodes of my diplomatic and political career", while also reminding Romania was the first former communist state to respond to this NATO initiative.
"It is always an honor for a diplomat to represent by his signature the will and the aspirations of an entire society. Romania's joining the Partnership for Peace was not a simple political decision but a profound feeling of belonging to a civilization and values the Romanian society had it after the Revolution of 1989," Melescanu said, according to a release of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) sent to AGERPRES.
"The moment of signing the Framework Partnership for Peace is one of the defining episodes of the diplomatic and political career of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Teodor Melescanu," said the same source.
The head of the diplomacy states that the Partnership for Peace programme is an especially important NATO initiative that is particularly important for European security, especially for the Central and Eastern European countries, which in the early 1990s were in a security vacuum after the implosion of the communist system. According to Melescanu, in line with NATO's founding objectives, the Alliance has created a concrete framework for establishing a just and sustainable peace order in Europe, based on the shared values of democracy and human rights, open to new partners.
"The fact that Romania was the first former communist state to respond affirmatively to the Partnership for Peace programme has been and continues to be an incontestable testimony of the attachment of the Romanian state and its citizens to the Euro-Atlantic joint defence space, cooperation and stability, to the spirit, values and principles that NATO was created to protect. The signing of the Framework Partnership for Peace enabled post-December Romania to advance a necessary process of reform and consolidation of key institutions and to benefit from the Alliance's experience and assistance, and also contributed to the effort of adapting the Romanian state to the modus operandi of the consolidated Western democracies, starting with the signing of the Framework Partnership, Romania as a state and especially the Romanian army gradually changed and adapted their policies, focusing on the values and reforms that paved the country's path to NATO," Minister Melescanu highlighted.
At the same time, he stressed that "the North Atlantic Alliance is the expression of the will of the citizens of its member states and the most important means of defending an area of democracy, freedom, peace, prosperity and respect for fundamental rights," and "this space is the highest landmark of the modern world from a political, economic, social and technological point of view."
Read also: Fitch revises to 'negative' outlook on Romania's banking giants BCR and BRD
"Accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation on March 29, 2004 has not only provided Romania with a place in this space, but also with unprecedented stability and security in its modern history. The Romanian state remains fully committed to joint defence, which was proved through its participation in the missions of the Alliance, both as a partner in the Partnership for Peace as well as allied post-accession. We will continue to remain firmly committed to our democratic allies in defending the shared values, peace and security at European and global level, convinced that together we are stronger and we can help create a safer world," concluded Teodor Melescanu.
AGERPRES .
