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At OSCE Ministerial Council meeting, ForMin Aurescu condemns Russia's atrocities against civilians in Ukraine
Romania's Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu on Thursday attended a meeting of the Ministerial Council of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OECD) in Lodz, Poland, condemning the "atrocities" by Russian armed forces against civilians and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.
According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry (MAE), the meeting, held under the Polish presidency, offered an opportunity to address the main current security issues in the OSCE area and the future of the organisation amidst the biggest crisis in Europe after WWII triggered by the Russian military aggression against Ukraine.
In his speech, the head of the Romanian diplomacy reconfirmed Romania's long-term commitment to promote respect for international law as a fundamental pillar of the country's foreign policy.
"He reiterated the call to the Russian Federation to put an immediate and unconditional end to the military aggression and to withdraw its forces and military equipment from the entire territory of Ukraine to the internationally recognised borders. Minister Aurescu condemned, in the strongest terms, the atrocities by the Russian armed forces against civilians and civil infrastructure, including energy, which continues to shock the international community. He emphasised that Romania will support international efforts to bring to justice the offenders based on the existing instruments of international law."
At the same time, Aurescu emphasised the bilateral and international support for Moldova, strongly affected by the conflict in Ukraine, mentioning three international ministerial conferences of the Moldova Support Platform initiated and co-chaired by Aurescu, together with his counterparts from Germany and France.
The Romanian minister presented the comprehensive support offered by Romania to Moldova and Ukraine, including supporting over 2.9 million Ukrainian refugees who crossed Romania's borders since the beginning of the war and facilitating the transit of over 8.4 million tonnes of grain and other agricultural produce from Ukraine.
Aurescu reiterated Romania's support for OSCE resolving protracted conflicts, showing that the Russian Federation has over the last three decades used a tactic of proliferating this type of conflicts in the Black Sea region with the aim of controlling and destabilising the region.
He emphasised Romania's principled position of support for a comprehensive, peaceful and sustainable settlement of the Transnistrian conflict that respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Moldova within its internationally recognised borders and without affecting its pro-European future.
According to MAE, Aurescu voiced Romania's support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Georgia, as well as for the recent discussions between Armenia and Azerbaijan under the auspices of the EU.
Aurescu also reconfirmed Romania's support for the European Union Monitoring Capacity to Armenia (EUMCAP), which includes four Romanian experts, a mission that Aurescu proposed after a diplomatic tour in the South Caucasus in June 2021, carried out jointly with his Lithuanian and Austrian counterparts, in coordination and with the EU High Representative J.Borrell.