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Secretary of State for European Affairs Iulia Matei participated on Thursday in the ministerial meeting of the South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP).
The event was organized as a videoconference by the chairmanship-in-exercise of the SEECP, exercised by Pristina, in the July 2019 - July 2020 period.
The agenda of the meeting targeted recent developments in the Southeast European region in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the stage of the process to enlarge the EU, shows a release of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) sent to AGERPRES.
According to the quoted source, the Romanian State Secretary emphasized the importance of cooperation at the regional level in view of overcoming current challenges, including in the context of the pandemic, emphasizing the importance of solidarity in order to ensure an adequate response to this crisis. She also underlined the key role that regional cooperation plays in ensuring the stability and prosperity of Southeast Europe, as well as in advancing the enlargement process.
Iulia Matei reiterated the firm support of Romania to continue the process of European and Euro-Atlantic integration in the Southeast European region, promoted actively during the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the EU.
Ensuring a credible European perspective for the region represents an objective of strategic importance for the stability, security and development of the region. In this sense, she recalled the powerful message sent by the EU, during the current crisis, by the adoption of the decision to open accession negotiations with Skopje and Tirana, the MAE press release shows.
The Romanian dignitary emphasized EU support for the region in the context of the pandemic and mentioned the support for the European Commission's proposal regarding the macro-financial assistance package worth 3 billion euro for EU partners, which comes to complete the Team Europe strategy, which targets the complementarity of efforts made by partners in combating the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Romanian official mentioned the support granted by Romania to the SEECP participants in the context of the pandemic, materialized by deliveries of medical equipment to Skopje and Podgorica, through the RescUE mechanism, as well as the support granted to Chisinau, by sending medical teams, as well as devices, medical equipment and medicine.
Furthermore, the Romanian State Secretary emphasized the importance of combating disinformation campaigns in the region, "which undermine the public trust and constitute a danger to the foundations of democracy".
On the occasion of the meeting, a joint statement of SEECP was adopted, presenting the coordinated effort to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and reiterates messages of support for European and Euro-Atlantic aspirations, emphasizing at the same time the importance of consolidating regional cooperation in view of reaching these objectives.
The event also marked the takeover of the annual mandate as chairmanship-in-exercise by Ankara, which will be followed, in the 2021-2022 mandate by Athens.
