Ministrul afacerilor externe Bogdan Aurescu participă luni, 21 martie 2022, la reuniunea miniștrilor de externe din statele membre ale UE – Consiliul Afaceri Externe/CAE, care se desfășoară la Bruxelles.
Prezentăm, mai jos, declarațiile de presă, în limba engleză, susținute de ministrul Bogdan Aurescu înainte de reuniune:
Good morning. We have just finished an informal working breakfast with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of North Macedonia. Romania has encouraged the opening, as soon as possible, of the accession negotiations.
At the same time, for us, today, the most important topics on the agenda are, of course, the Russian aggression against Ukraine and the discussion with the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Moldova, Mr. Nicu Popescu.
On the Russian aggression against Ukraine, we are monitoring with great attention the ongoing discussions between the Russians and the Ukrainians regarding the settlement of the conflict. But for that to be resultative, it needs the immediate cessation of the military activities by Russia in Ukraine. We call on Russia to stop its military aggression and to evacuate its troops from the territory of Ukraine. At the same time, we condemn the loss of civil lives and the attacks of Russia against civilians and civilian objectives.
Today, we have to discuss about what other measures we can take to support Ukraine and for that, I think, we have to be available and very much open to adopt new sanctions against Russia.
At the same time, it is important to see what we can do in terms of combating the war propaganda and disinformation, which is done by Russia in Ukraine and about the conflict in Ukraine. We also have to see what we can do in order to isolate Russia more in international fora. For that, I welcome the adoption or the endorsement today by the Ministers of the principles on Russia and Belarus in multilateral fora. I think it’s important to work together more in order to isolate Russia on the international arena. Last, but not least, it’s important to cope with the humanitarian situation and the waves of refugees.
Romania, as the EU Member State with the longest border with Ukraine, is trying to cope with this situation.
As of yesterday, we have received more than 526.000 Ukrainian citizens entering Romania and we are trying to provide all facilities possible. We have also created green lanes in order to take Ukrainian refugees from the border of the Republic of Moldova with Ukraine directly into the Romanian territory, in order to ease the effort of the authorities of the Republic of Moldova, who are very much overwhelmed by the number of refugees.
At the same time, it’s very important to see how we can help more the Republic of Moldova. We have organized a hub in the northern part of Romania in order to collect and transfer humanitarian assistance, not only to Ukraine, but also to the Republic of Moldova. We have sent in-kind assistance to the Republic of Moldova. As I mentioned, we are taking refugees, but it is important that more effort is done by the EU and by the EU Member States in order to provide financial assistance and to take in some numbers of refugees from the Republic of Moldova into the European Union’s Member States.
At the same time, we need to discuss about the European perspective of the Republic of Moldova. Romania supports the accession of the Republic of Moldova to the European Union, not only the accession of Ukraine and Georgia. All three countries deserve the membership in the European family and this is not just a circumstantial request by, for instance, the Republic of Moldova. The leadership in Chișinău is very much committed towards the reform processes, to the democratic reform processes and to the European path.
So I’m looking forward to the discussion today with the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Moldova, Mr. Nicu Popescu. We have to help them also as far as energy security is concerned and we are working together with them in order to find alternative sources of energy. We are also available to host, in our storage capacities, gas from the Republic of Moldova and to build, on the medium term, a gas storage capacity of the Republic of Moldova on the territory of Romania.
Last but not least, because of the need for more help for the Republic of Moldova, we are supporting the organization on the 5th of April in Berlin, together with our German and French colleagues, of a Conference in support of the Republic of Moldova in order to create a “Moldova Support Platform” and to stimulate more support for this country.
Last, but not least, I’m looking forward to the debate during the Jumbo meeting with the Ministers of Defense on the Strategic Compass. Thank you so much.
Reporter: Minister, what about Georgia, you mentioned it, but will you support these countries together on the European path?
Bogdan Aurescu: Yes, our support goes equally for Georgia in terms of membership for the European Union, because I think that they deserve being part of the European family. Thank you.
