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President Klaus Iohannis had a meeting on Tuesday with the ambassadors of member states of the European Union, accredited in Bucharest, context in which he highlighted that both the European Council meeting, as well as the NATO Summit of this month, will represent important landmarks in regards to tackling complex European and global agenda, marked by the war in Ukraine and its political, economic and social consequences.
According to a press release sent by the Presidential Administration, on the occasion of the end of the French Presidency of the European Council at the end of June, current topics were tackled, which will be on the agenda of the European Council meeting on June 23-24, namely the security evolutions and the support granted to Ukraine, the accession requests to the EU of Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Georgia, the economic situation, as well as the relations of the European Union with the Western Balkans.
The main topics were presented for the future NATO Summit in Madrid, which will take place at the end of June.
President Iohannis mentioned the crucial decisions that will have to be adopted on the occasion of the NATO Summit in Madrid in regards to consolidating the posture of defence and deterrence of the Alliance on the entire Eastern Flank, in a long-term unified manner and the ambitious tackle in formulating the New Strategic Concept, which will reflect new security parameters, to grant priority to collective defence, to define Russia as a threat and to consolidate the Alliance on all levels.
President Iohannis expressed our country's firm support for NATO's policy of "Open Doors" and for the accession of Sweden and Finland to the Alliance.
Furthermore, the Romanian president referred to the results of the recent visit carried out in Kyiv, alongside the French president Emmanuel Macron, the German chancellor Olaf Scholz, as well as the Italian Prime Minister, Mario Draghi, highlighting that this was a shared action, through which the European unity was reaffirmed, as well as the solid European commitment for continuing support for Ukraine, on several levels.
Iohannis also referred to the substantial discussions with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, which were focused on solid ways of continuing to help Ukraine against the Russian aggression, of supporting the reconstruction effort, followed by reestablishing peace, as well as the logistic plan regarding the export of cereal.
In context, Iohannis highlighted the constant support of our country for Ukraine, since the first days of the Russian aggression.
"In this sense he referred to the help of the over 1.25 million Ukrainian refugees that crossed Romania's borders since the start of the war, to the mechanisms of integration on the work force and in the area of education provided for Ukrainian refugees, to the international logistics Center for distributing humanitarian aid from Suceava, as well as the efforts of facilitating the transit of cereal export from Ukraine towards international markets, presenting Romania's recently adopted measures," the press release reads.
Furthermore, the president reiterated the necessity of continuing support from EU member states for the Republic of Moldova, country which is deeply affected by the war in Ukraine, expressing his hope in this sense, through the Conference of Donors for the Republic of Moldova, which Romania will host in the month of July, to manage to mobilize an important financial aid for this country.
A topic of interest was about the accession requests to the EU from Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Georgia, context in which the Romanian head of state congratulated the opinions that were recently published by the European Commission, that acknowledges the perspective of the three states of becoming EU member states, as well as granting the status of candidate for Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, by understanding to fulfill certain steps.
Furthermore, the Romanian president highlighted the need to continue the commitment towards advancing the enlargement policy, in agreement with its own merits, for candidates that are already in this process.
In this sense Iohannis reiterated the need to continue the commitment towards opening accession negotiations with Albania and the Republic of North Macedonia, mentioning that organizing a meeting with EU-Western Balkan leaders, on June 23, is an opportune moment for reaffirming the EU's clear and active commitment for the region, as a geopolitical approach, in a difficult context.
President Iohannis also tackled the economic perspectives at a European level, with emphasis on the importance of adopting and implementing quick and coordinated measures, giving example of the current proposal of the European Commission RepowerEU, meant to stimulate investments in the energy sector, in close correlation with those from Romania's National Recovery and Resilience plan (PNRR).
At the end of the meeting the Romanian head of state wished good luck to the future presidency of the Czech Republic to the EU Council, which will start on July 1, 2022.AGERPRES
