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Romania is a major hub of assistance offered to Ukraine by NATO, the European Union and partner countries and supports Ukraine by all means, the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Marcel Ciolacu, said on Tuesday.
"As an ally with the longest border with Ukraine, Romania plays a major geostrategic role and makes every effort to support this neighbouring country in the war waged by Russia. We express our appreciation for Ukraine's heroism in the fight against Russia," said the Social Democrat leader during a meeting with a delegation of the Committee on Democracy and Security of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.
He stressed that Romania has stood and fully stands in solidarity with Ukraine.
"We have supported the refugees having fled the war with numerous prompt measures and with an unprecedented mobilization of Romanian citizens. This has been recognized and appreciated at European and international level. Few people know that, in the first days after the outbreak of the war, many women with minor children left Ukraine and not always those minor children were the children of the ladies accompanying them. They were also the children of neighbours, and the children of relatives, something that required a special effort on the part of the Romanian authorities, so that in the following period we would not have to deal with child trafficking in Europe and in the world. And, sincerely, I would like to congratulate the Romanian authorities especially for this episode which is very little known to the world," said Marcel Ciolacu.
The PSD leader then highlighted the efforts made by our country to solve the food crisis.
"Romania is a major hub of assistance offered to Ukraine by NATO, the European Union and partner countries and supports Ukraine by all means. I would mention, in particular, my country's efforts to solve the food crisis generated by the blocking of grain exports, even at the risk of significant costs for Romanian farmers. Just to give you an idea - Romania has ensured the transit of over 11 million tonnes of grain and agricultural products through the Danube and Black Sea ports. The facilitation of these Ukrainian exports has directly contributed to the stabilization of global food markets and to the improvement of food security," explained the speaker of the Chamber of Deputies.
At the same time, he added, we must not lose sight of other partners affected by the war in Ukraine, with reference to the Republic of Moldova and Georgia.
"In this difficult context, Romania has provided substantial support to the Republic of Moldova to enable it to face multiple challenges, such as the energy crisis, the increased number of Ukrainian refugees, security and resilience risks. The Eastern flank is essential for Euro-Atlantic security, especially at this time, which makes it all the more important that the decisions of the NATO Summit in Madrid are fully and timely implemented. Beyond this complicated picture, we also have events to celebrate and, in this regard, I would like to welcome the accession of Finland, which officially becomes a NATO member state today. At the same time, I hope that Sweden will have the same positive path," said Marcel Ciolacu.
He also noted with satisfaction the significant steps made by the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in recent years towards increasing the democratic dimension of the Alliance.
"As this war shows, we are a defence community, but values such as democracy, rules-based international order, sovereignty, territorial integrity remain fundamental for Allied states and their partners. I believe that your work in this committee is very relevant, including from this perspective. You have a substantial and relevant agenda for a key Euro-Atlantic security region," concluded Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Marcel Ciolacu. AGERPRES
