FAC. Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu is participating, today, in Brussels, in the Foreign Affairs Council. The talks are focused on Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, the situation in Afghanistan and climate and energy diplomacy. The European officials will also address developments in Iran, with an emphasis on the human rights situation and Iran’s cooperation with Russia in the military field. The Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bogdan Aurescu, will reiterate solidarity with Ukraine and stress the need to maintain EU support for Ukraine as long as it is needed. On the sidelines of the council, the European foreign ministers will have an informal exchange of views with the foreign minister of the Republic of Moldova, Nicu Popescu, introduced on the agenda at the proposal of minister Bogdan Aurescu.
Ukraine. This morning, US President Joe Biden paid a surprise visit to Kyiv, where he met with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky. The American official announced additional aid in the amount of 500 million dollars and said that new sanctions against Russia were coming this week. For his part, Zelensky stated that he discussed long-range weaponry with Biden. The visit was not announced for security reasons. The American president is expected in Warsaw, where he will be received by his Polish counterpart, Andrej Duda. On Tuesday, Joe Biden will give a speech in Poland, a key US ally, on the same day that his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, will speak in Moscow, three days before the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. On Wednesday, the head of the White House will meet with the leaders of Bucharest 9 (B9), including the Romanian president, Klaus Iohannis. B9 is a group of NATO members from Eastern Europe consisting of Romania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia.
Moldova. The geopolitical challenges triggered by Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, energy security and the fight against the Kremlin’s propaganda and disinformation are topics on the agenda of the 10th Euronest Parliamentary Assembly. The meeting takes place in the capital of the Republic of Moldova, between February 19 and 21. Moldovan State Secretary Constantin Borosan, from the Euronest Committee for Energy Security, has stressed that the interconnection of the Republic of Moldova with the Romanian gas supply system through the Iasi – Chisinau gas pipeline and the European ENTSO-E electricity grid helped the state to overcome the worst energy crises. The Euronest Parliamentary Assembly was established in 2011 by the European Union and the Eastern Partnership states: the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.
