Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Oana Toiu and her Polish counterpart Radoslaw Sikorski met on Tuesday in Brussels on the sidelines of the ongoing Foreign Affairs Council, with the talks of the two top diplomats revealing the excellent level of the bilateral relationship, with an emphasis on strengthening the Romania-Poland Strategic Partnership and its trade and defense components, the Romanian Foreign Ministry said in a release.
The two officials expressed their determination to continue coordinating on the regional security dimension, with a focus on reinforcing NATO's eastern flank, and expressed their gratitude for the contribution of the Romanian troops, through the air defense detachment assigned to the forward presence in Poland, and of the Polish troops participating in the multinational brigade stationed in Craiova.
Tackling the strengthening of European security, the two Foreign ministers stressed the need for the multidimensional support in the region to continue and for ramping up pressure on the Russian Federation. In this regard, they reiterated support for the swift adoption of the 18th package of EU sanctions.
The Romanian minister underscored the joint commitment of the two states to reducing the Russian Federation's revenues from energy, by capping the oil price, additional sanctions on Russia's "ghost ship fleet" and the actors involved, and through additional measures targeting the maritime transport of exports of Russian origin.
Oana Toiu expressed interest in capitalizing on the opportunities offered by the European funds for the coordinated participation in the reconstruction of Ukraine, and potential partnerships between Romanian and Polish companies. The two foreign ministers agreed on future lines of work for the integration of the business environment into joint strategic projects, starting from an exchange of best practices in securing and guaranteeing private sector investments in the European Union's neighborhood. In a broader approach, the Romanian minister highlighted the added value of national development banks to the better use of European financial instruments, proposing the initiation of a dialogue on this topic.
The joint interest in promoting European values in the EU's neighborhood was also reiterated, as a tool to combat Russia's use of malign narratives, with concrete cooperation initiatives such as supporting European funding for projects with a tangible impact on the population (for example, Romanian-language media as part of a broader effort by Poland).
The Romanian and Polish top diplomats also dwelled on other calendar topics, such as the NATO industry summit taking place in Bucharest in November, and the Timisoara Cities Summit on the EU enlargement, due in September. The two ministers also expressed interest in a new Romania-Poland-Turkey trilateral meeting by the end of this year.
Comentează