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Minister of Foreign Affairs Teodor Melescanu said on Tuesday that preparations for the Great Union Centennial, the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the candidacy for a non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council and the bid for OECD membership are the "landmarks" of the Romanian diplomacy. "We equally need a more result-oriented economic diplomacy," Melescanu told the Annual Meeting of Romanian Diplomats taking place in Bucharest, adding that the country's diplomats also need to better connect to Romania's most recent innovative projects.
The ForMin said that Romania's European stake is to ensure the Presidency of the Council of the EU in the first half of 2019, a historic opportunity for the country's foreign policy. "Romania's interest is to reinvigorate development policies from the perspective of economic convergence and deeper European integration. At the same time, we need to update our country profile, to intelligently increase our influence to the standards our entire society deserves and wishes for. (...) Outside country borders we must reach the repute, respect and recognition capable of making us proud as a country and as citizens of Romania. We must be far more active in promoting Romania's national interests on the EU subject and we need to be more actively promote Romania's national interests regarding EU and bilateral relations with the member states," Teodor Melescanu stressed.
The Romanian chief diplomat mentioned that "security remains the key stake from the transatlantic and global perspective," adding that by the end of the year Romania will host the Annual Romania-US Strategic Dialogue Meeting where the priority actions and projects to deepen the bilateral relationship will be agreed upon. According to Melescanu, Romania's direct proximity is of particular importance. "In our neighborhood, the Republic of Moldova and supporting it for a European future remain a priority stake," the Foreign Minister said. The Minister of Foreign Affairs pointed out that Romania wants to have good relations with Russia and argued that the strategic relationship with Israel needs to be taken to a deeper level by expanding the areas of cooperation while enhancing the relations with the Middle East as a whole.
