Interior Minister Lucian Bode stated on Tuesday, at the opening of the Ministerial Conference of the Salzburg Forum, that the latter has the role "to coagulate" at strategic and political level the joint standpoints of the member states in areas of interest for internal affairs.
"This afternoon, in Bucharest, the works of the Ministerial Conference of the Salzburg Forum have begun, one of the most important ministerial conference in the area of internal affairs of Central and South-Eastern Europe this year. Romania, through the Interior Ministry (MAI), ensures the current Presidency of the Salzburg Forum and the event which takes place these days at the Palace of Parliament represents the most important event of the Romanian Presidency," Lucian Bode stated, Agerpres informs.
He said he is honored to preside the works of this conference, which is attended, at Romania's invitation, by ministers and high-ranking representatives of nine EU member states and that of seven states in the immediate vicinity of the EU, but also within the European Commission and the most important European agencies, regional cooperation formats and international organisations.
"The conference has the role to coagulate, at strategic and political level, joint standpoints of the member states in areas of interest for interior affairs. We will have the opportunity throughout the two days of discussions to tackle special interest aspects, such as the management of consequences of the Russian aggression against Ukraine, the management of overlapped migration crisis and concrete measures to maintain security and stability in the Republic of Moldova and the Western Balkans," the Interior Minister stated.
In the 2nd Semester of 2022, Romania, through the Interior Ministry, ensures the Presidency of the Salzburg Forum, a regional mechanism of political consultations and multilateral cooperation.
The Salzburg Forum was established in June 2000 and, currently, gathers interior ministers for Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Hungary.
In September 2007, the Salzburg Forum's Group of Friends of the Western Balkans was established, which includes: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of North Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, as well as the Republic of Moldova, taking into account the special attention which the European Union pays to this area in view of a potential new expansion.
The Presidency of the Forum is taken over through rotation by the member states for periods of six months.
