President of the Republic of Austria Alexander Van Der Bellen declared on Friday that the traditional partnership and ties between his country and Romania have helped overcome the "recent minor tensions" and to restore the "excellent" relations of the two states, stressing also that he is "very happy" that Romania has joined the Schengen.
"It is a joy and an honor for me to greet you here today, in Salzburg, two months after your taking office on May 26. Let me congratulate you once again on your success in the presidential election. The bilateral relations of our countries are marked by a geographical proximity, a shared cultural and historical canvas and a partnership of tradition. This partnership, these ties have helped us overcome the recent minor tensions and to rediscover the excellent relations we have," said the Austrian head of state in a press statement delivered together with President Nicusor Dan, who is on a two-day official visit to Austria, agerpres reports.
The two countries also share "very strong" economic relations, stressed the Austrian president.
"Austria is the second most important foreign investor in Romania. This strong commitment requires a solid foundation of trust - on the one hand, the trust of Austrian companies in the economy and stability of Romania, that is, in the Romanian business climate, but on the other hand, the trust of the Romanian population in the quality and the Austrian companies' ability to do their job is also needed," Van Der Bellen emphasized.
He mentioned that 2023 marked a record-high in terms of trade between the two countries, after which figures decreased. "This shows us that we are not allowed to rest on the laurels acquired so far," the Austrian president remarked.
According to him, some 150,000 Romanians live in Austria, making them the second largest foreign community after the Germans.
"These people contribute not only to the economic relations between our countries, but they are also ambassadors of the cultural and interpersonal relations that have been developed in recent decades. Austria needs these people. I want to mention the medical system too, we are very grateful to the Romanians who work in this sector," Austria's president added.
Romanians and Austrians benefit every day from their EU membership, even if this "may have been forgotten recently," Alexander Van Der Bellen highlighted.
"Our bilateral relations and European membership have taken our partnership to the next level. Today, during our talks, we agreed on the rapprochement of the Western Balkan countries, Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova with the European Union. A commitment to these countries is a geostrategic obligation. We have no alternative to this," the Austrian head of state added.
He said that they also discussed European collaboration in the context of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.
"We agreed that Ukraine further needs our solidarity now, during the war, but also post-war, in the reconstruction process. (...) The challenges of our times must be overcome, democracies are under pressure, we have a war going on in our vicinity, there are repeated hybrid attacks and destabilization attempts from outside, especially on the part of Russia. Therefore, we need a remodeling and deepening of the relations between our countries and of the transatlantic bonds. The answer to all these questions is Europe, the answer is a strong European Union, we must be able to give exactly this answer and that's what we do in Austria and so do our Romanian partners," Alexander Van Der Bellen argued.
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