On the sidelines of the OECD Conference in Paris, Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu had talks with his French counterpart, Catherine Colonna.
The consequences of the war in Ukraine on global economy, the construction of a better future for young people, with responsible, eco-friendly trade, were among the topics on the agenda of the annual meeting of the Ministerial Council of the Organization for Economic and Cooperation Development (OECD). Foreign Minister, Bogdan Aurescu, who for the first time represented Romania as an OECD candidate country, received the roadmap with all the reforms, some of them extremely important, that Romania must implement in order to join the select club of 38 states with developed economies. On the sidelines of the event, Minister Aurescu met with France’s new Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna. Talks focused on hot topics on the European and global agenda, with a focus on the security developments in Ukraine and the multiple consequences of the war in this country. Bogdan Aurescu highlighted the excellent relations between Romania and France, defined under the Strategic Partnership renewed in 2018 with the signing of the Political Declaration by presidents Klaus Iohannis and Emmanuel Macron, and whose development guidelines were detailed in the Roadmap signed in 2020.
At the same time, Bogdan Aurescu reiterated Romania’s gratitude for France’s contribution to strengthening NATO’s deterrence and defense postures on the Alliance’s eastern flank by deploying French military to Romania, arguing this effort represents a clear confirmation of Allied solidarity and France’s constant commitment to ensuring the security of Allied states, including Romania, thus consolidating the Strategic Partnership between the two countries. In this context, the two ministers argued in favor of rendering operational the NATO battlegroup in Romania under French command. As regards the NATO summit in Madrid at the end of the month, the two ministers expressed support for the NATO accession of Sweden and Finland, which will help consolidate Allied security. In terms of security cooperation at bilateral level, the two officials also discussed the importance of organizing a 2+2 meeting at the level of the two countries’ foreign and defense ministries, especially in terms of consolidating efforts in the new security context.
On the other hand, the French official expressed appreciation for the way in which Romania provided support to Ukraine at various levels, while the Romanian Minister underscored the need to support the Republic of Moldova in its efforts to cope with a number of effects of the Russian aggression in Ukraine. At the same time, Minister Aurescu reiterated the EU’s support for Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia, as well as the start of negotiations talks with Albania and North Macedonia.
(Mihai Pelin, Radio Romania International)
