Iohannis: Three Seas Initiatie will enlarge with Greece, Ukraine and Moldova
President Klaus Iohannis said on Tuesday that at the summit of the Three Seas Initiative (3SI) scheduled for September 6 in Bucharest, thought will be given to expanding the platform to include Greece as a participating state as well as Ukraine and Moldova as associated states.
"In the geopolitical context created by the war in Ukraine, 3SI has gained in relevance and I believe that it must become an even more important platform in strengthening regional and European resilience. At the September 6 summit, Romania has a series of objectives, among which I would mention the reconfirmation the role of the initiative to promote economic growth and strategic interconnections, including by consolidating and refining the initiative's instruments, and redefining the initiative's relationship with its geopolitically reconfigured neighbourhood. Without anticipating the decisions that will be taken at the summit, the expansion of the initiative with a new participating state, Greece, and granting the status of associated states to Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova is shaping up," Iohannis told a meeting with Romanian heads of diplomatic missions and consular offices and directors of Romanian cultural institutes.
He added that Romania will continue to deepen its bilateral relationships with its European partners, especially with strategic or strategically relevant ones: Germany, France, Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom, Poland, Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, Portugal, Belgium, Hungary and the Baltic states.
"At the same time, it is essential to deepen the trilateral formats consolidated or launched in recent years. I mean the Romania - Poland - Turkey, Romania - Republic of Moldova - Ukraine, Romania - Poland - Spain three-way co-operation organisations, each being built on a logic of efficient and targeted co-operation," said Iohannis.
He told the Romanian diplomats that they have to continue to focus on the relations with the strategic partners in the South Caucasus, Azerbaijan and Georgia, as well as with Armenia, considering "the importance of this region in terms of energy and from the point of view of its role in the political, economic and security configuration of the Black Sea."
The President added that regarding the Western Balkans region, it is necessary to identify viable solutions for speeding-up European and Euro-Atlantic integration for the interested states.
"At the same time, Romania will continue to be actively involved in the Middle East and the southern neighbourhood," he said.
He added that "the development of our presence and interactions in Latin America, Africa and Asia is not only a necessary recalibration of our priorities, but also the reflection of taking up an active profile within the European Union."
"The war in Ukraine has shown us, dramatically, that the rules-based international order, with the UN Charter at its centre, must be taken up and defended on all continents, that every voice counts and that no global partner must be forgotten. As a mature member of the European Union, but also as a state with valuable traditional bilateral ties in Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America, we have been involved at an unprecedented level in relaunching relations with these areas. I am urging you to continue on this path."
Iohannis added that in the Asia-Pacific region, relations with countries such as Japan and South Korea remain a priority.
"A special importance will have to be attached to the sustainable redress of relationships with India, and a consistent follow-up to the visit I made to Singapore should also occur," added the chief of state.
He also said that his discussions with his counterparts from Brazil, Chile and Argentina on his visits in April, established the guidelines of action for the period immediately ahead in political, economic, cultural terms, of joint action against climate change.
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