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Supporting Ukraine means in fact supporting the security of Romania, the security of the Romanian citizens, the security of the European Union, the security of the Euro-Atlantic area, Romania's Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu told a joint news conference with his American counterpart Antony Blinken in Bucharest on Tuesday, told Agerpres.
Speaking about the support given by Romania to Ukraine, the head of the Romanian diplomacy said that "it was a huge effort."
"I think that this huge effort will continue, because I do think that we need to support Ukraine for as long as it takes. So, there is no fatigue here about supporting Ukraine and we will continue with the same effort, because we think that supporting Ukraine means in fact supporting the security of Romania, the security of Romanian citizens, the security of the European Union, the security of the Euro-Atlantic area, because the war against Ukraine unleashed by Russia is not just a war about Ukraine or against Ukraine; it is not just an attack on the security of our neighbour. It is an attack of the security of the region, it is an attack of the security of Europe, an attack of the Euro-Atlantic security," said Aurescu.
He also spoke about the US strategy for the Black Sea region and recalled his visit to Washington last November.
"We considered it was very important to bring also Romania's contribution, and at that time I forwarded a comprehensive document with the vision of Romania on how this Black Sea strategy should look like in our view. The vision was of a comprehensive strategy to go beyond the security dimension, the classic security dimension, and to add dimensions related to the freedom of navigation, to the resilience of countries around the Black Sea which needs to be consolidated. I also included there ideas regarding the developments of the economies in the Black Sea region and consolidating the Black Sea as a hub and transit point between Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia. Because, indeed, the Black Sea has a lot of potential."
Aurescu said that after the beginning of the war in Ukraine, a rethinking of this concept was considered.
"After the war started in Ukraine, we considered that it is extremely relevant to think again in the new context what would be the main parameters of this US strategy on the Black Sea, which is not just a US strategy, it is far more than that, going beyond the vision of the united States," he said.
"Today I've forwarded another updated version of the vision of Romania on this strategy, consolidating the approach, which is a comprehensive one, that was included in the document for the last November."
He also mentioned that on Tuesday and Wednesday a meeting of the NATO foreign ministers takes place in Bucharest. "That's is why we are meeting here, on the shores of the Black Sea, because this speaks about not only the role of Romania in this international context and the work that we have done and will continue to do. It is also about the strategic importance of the Black Sea, in this context," said Aurescu.
He also mentioned the fact that the ministers will also meet their Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba to find ways to support Ukraine's defence capacity and to propose a NATO comprehensive assistance package of non-lethal aid for Ukraine.
Regarding the permanent US and NATO military presence in Romania, Aurescu said: "No time there is enough support, but we will continue, because this is about our security and it is about our common values."
"We have advocating for quite a long time for more US and NATO presence in Romania. We discussed this last year, but now I think we have a very robust US [military] presence in Romania, a very robust NATO presence in Romania, but we have to continue to implement the decisions of the Madrid Summit, which are speaking about transforming to the level of the battlegroup in Romania, from the battalion level to the brigade level," he pointed out.
Aurescu also welcomed the fact that the proposed US ambassador to Romania was being heard in the US Congress on Tuesday.
