MEP Victor Negrescu believes that it is crucial for Romania to become the host of the Black Sea maritime security hub and that the authorities in Bucharest must draw up a detailed file to convince the European Commission and the member states that its arguments for why it needs to host this structure are solid, while USR (Save Romania Union) MEP Dan Barna claims that a variant is also possible in which the hub would be in Romania, but with joint management with Bulgaria.
"Bulgaria took the first steps from the moment the European Commission raised this possibility, which is why we must do the same," Negrescu explained in a briefing for Romanian journalists in Brussels.
Romanian MEPs signed a letter requesting that Romania be assigned the hosting of this security hub proposed by the European Commission, Negrescu recalled. He believes that the hub "would ensure the security of the Black Sea, ensure that trade routes are maintained, coordinate an action that already exists at the EU and NATO level for demining, and I also expect that this hub will manage financial resources for the development of critical infrastructure in the maritime area".
Victor Negrescu, who is also vice-president of the EP, claims that the initiative is "crucial for our country".
The PSD MEP claims that he expects the decision on the establishment of this structure "to be taken by the end of the year and then we will see how long its implementation will take". He specified that the financial resources to create this structure already exist.
Negrescu also specified that hosting the hub will not mean "troops, by no means", but "rather a coordination of the infrastructure".
The politician said that there could be several types of benefits, including "better coordination between ports, better coordination in terms of trade routes, better coordination of investments in critical infrastructure, better coordination in terms of infrastructure development projects in the respective area".
Asked whether hosting the hub could lead to direct investments in Romania, Negrescu said that we must wait for the specific regulation for the creation of this security hub, to see "to what extent it will be equipped with additional financial capacities or only with the management of already existing programmes".
"This is a matter of concern and diplomatic instruments are also being used to consolidate support," said USR MEP Dan Barna, in his turn, about the steps that Romania must take to win the assignment of the hub.
"In the middle of next month, I will organize here, in Brussels, a debate on this topic with the Permanent Representation, with guests from the Commission, with guests from Bulgaria. There will be a conference related to security in the Black Sea and the respective strategy and the security hub. We are also discussing a strategic approach so that we are not on a collision course with Bulgaria," Barna told the Romanian journalists.
Dan Barna claims that Romania has already took some steps in this regard, although Victor Negrescu had previously stated that he had no information about this.
"The discussions took place. We also spoke with Mrs. Kaja Kallas (the head of EU diplomacy). I mean, I have nothing to tell you in terms of communication, publicly, but the steps are happening at this moment. They have actually been happening for a few weeks," he assured.
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