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ForMins of Romania-Bulgaria-Greece trilateral format to convene on June 21 in Bucharest
Romania, Bulgaria and Greece's foreign ministers will be convening in Bucharest on June 21 as part of the Romania- Bulgaria-Greece trilateral cooperation format, Romania's Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu informed on Wednesday.
In her turn, Bulgaria's Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zakharieva said that these formats have proved useful. "They are advantageous in terms of policy coordination and joint project development,"said Zakharieva.
She added that in the case of the Romania-Bulgaria-Greece format there can be intense talking about the European prospects of the Eastern Partnership and the Western Balkans.
"We need a clear political message, first of all to the citizens of these countries that their European prospects are still a fact, depending on developments and achievements," said Zakharieva.
The two ministers also discussed the importance of sectorial cooperation, with emphasis on cross-border cooperation and the adjustment of the main joint transport and energy infrastructure projects. They also voiced interest in economic cooperation being boosted by new opportunities.
"We have underscored our joint interest in supporting the communities in both countries as they are genuine bridges for bilateral dialogue. (...) We have advanced and underscored the importance of projects that will contribute toward the integration of the Romanian and Bulgarian communities, as well as the preservation and affirmation of their linguistic and cultural identities," added Melescanu.
Talks also focused on cooperation between the two countries in European affairs, voicing their wish for active contribution toward the debates on the future of the European Union along with the need for stability being preserved in the Western Balkans.
Also discussed were the priorities of Romania and Bulgaria when separately holding the six-month rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Bulgaria and Romania have met the technical criteria for acceding to the Schengen Area, Bulgaria's Foreign Affairs Minister Ekaterina Zakharieva stated on Wednesday, voicing hope that the accession of the two countries to the free-border area will become a reality as soon as possible.
"When we had coordinated actions we managed to have the best decisions for both states. The decision to liberalise access of Bulgaria and Romania to the Schengen visa system, the negotiations we had together over liberalising visas for Canada are some examples from the past months. We have mutual interests in respect to the Schengen. We are fulfilling the technical criteria. Romania and Bulgaria's accession to Schengen it's a security issue for the entire Europe, for all the European states, and we hope the political decision that was taken in the European Parliament and in the Council, ever since then, will become a reality as soon as possible," said Zakharieva in a joint news conference with Romania's Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu in Bucharest.
She also underscored that the Co-operation and Verification Mechanism (CVM), under which the two countries' progress with judiciary reform is gauged, can't last forever, adding that Bulgaria and Romania must convince their European partners that the outcome of justice reforms is irreversible.
"Bulgaria and Romania have always collaborated, the most important objective to us is completing the judiciary reforms in the two countriess. This mechanism cannot last forever, ten years have passed already. [...] The Bulgarian Gov't is firmly determined to meet the 17 concrete benchmarks in the progress report issued on Bulgaria and Romania every year. [...] Cooperation must be expressed in it: let's convince our partners not only that we are fulfilling the recommendations, but that we have come to an irreversible result. The Bulgarian Gov't will meet these benchmarks before the end of 2018, as pledged," said Zakharieva.
Romania's Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu highlighted the excellent level of the bilateral relationship between Romania and Bulgaria as well as the need to intensify economic cooperation between the two countries.
It added that the two officials mentioned the importance of the fourth joint meeting of the national governments of Romania and Bulgaria to be held this autumn.
About the future of the European Union, the two officials mentioned the need for a unitary and consistent approach, rooted in principles, of the current challenges on the EU's internal and external agendas, so that the European design may get consolidated along with the EU's global profile.
The two ministers also reviewed the latest developments in the Western Balkans, with Melescanu showing that preserving security and stability in the region is of essence, speaking in favour of the region being irreversibly anchored to a European path.
According to MAE, talks also focused on the latest developments in the EU's Eastern Neighbourhood, with Melescanu underscoring that Romania will continue to be a staunch supporter of Moldova's European journey and advocate in the EU the consolidation of European support for Moldova's officials based on the implementation of reforms.
"The support of the two officials for Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty was reiterated, with emphasis on the importance and need to full implement the Minsk Accords. Part of the excellent cooperation between Romania and Bulgaria inside NATO, Melescanu underscored the important role of NATO in fighting security challenges in the Black Sea zone and highlighted the need to fully implement the decisions passed by the NATO Summit in Warsaw and the subsequent ministerial meetings," said MAE.