The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luminita Odobescu, condemned, on Friday, in Zagreb, Russia's attack on a commercial ship in the Black Sea and assessed that this recent aggression is "a blatant violation of international law".
The head of the Romanian diplomacy was on an official visit to Croatia, where she was received by the prime minister of this country, Andrej Plenkovic, and had a joint press statement with her counterpart, Gordan Grlic Radman.
"Yesterday there was a new demonstration in the Black Sea of what Russia can do in terms of challenging freedom of navigation and disregarding international law. We strongly condemned Russia's intentional attack on a commercial vessel carrying grain in the Black Sea. It is an unprecedented escalation and another blatant violation of international law. We demand that Russia immediately stop any attack on commercial ships, on the civil port infrastructure and stop the violations of the right of free navigation," said Odobescu.
At the same time, she emphasized the wide impact of Russia's war against Ukraine on regional and global security.
"Russia remains the biggest threat to the security of the Black Sea region and the entire European continent," said the Romanian minister.
According to the MAE, in the consultations with Minister Gordan Grlic Radman, Luminita Odobescu highlighted the mutual commitment and attention given by the authorities of both states to ensure the highest standards of protection for the people who belong to the Croatian minority in Romania, respectively the Romanian-speaking linguistic minority in Croatia.
She reiterated Romania's firm support for the EU enlargement process, respecting the principle of own merits, emphasizing our country's determination to support both the Eastern and Western Balkan partners.
The Romanian minister also emphasized the support for the European integration efforts of the Republic of Moldova and increasing resilience.
During the meeting with Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, she pointed out both the stage and the development potential of economic and sectoral cooperation between the two countries in areas such as transport, energy, tourism and cultural relations.
In this context, she highlighted the dynamic interactions of the Romanian ports of Constanta and Galati with the port of Vukovar in Croatia, useful both from a commercial and investment point of view, as well as for increasing the volume of grain exports and other products from Ukraine.
She also emphasized effective cooperation in the field of internal affairs and evoked interest in expanding dialogue and cooperation in the field of security and defense, including in the context of the new EU Strategic Agenda.
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