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Belgian Prime Minister De Croo, received by President Iohannis at Cotroceni Presidential Palace
President Klaus Iohannis received, on Tuesday, at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace, the Prime Minister of the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium, Alexander De Croo.
On Wednesday, he is scheduled to visit the 57th Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base alongside President Klaus Iohannis and Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca.
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said on Tuesday that the humanitarian impact of the war in Ukraine has been immense and that the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, would not go unpunished.
‘All we see today is proof that, following President Putin's miscalculation, a miscalculation regarding the Ukrainians' resolve to defend themselves, a miscalculation on the West's determination to make Russia pay the costs of this war, a miscalculation of our unity as European partners and a miscalculation of NATO's determination in recent months, NATO is stronger than ever. A few years ago, some partners had begun to doubt. The question has been answered in the meantime, NATO is here, it is strong and it is an organization we can count on. It is very important for me to be able to address you and your citizens to say how important it is to us that our security is collective. Your border is also our border and we will defend it together’, the Belgian Prime Minister told the joint press conference with the President Klaus Iohannis, at the end of the meeting held at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace.
He stressed that the humanitarian impact of the war in Ukraine is immense, with over one million Ukrainians having left their living places. We have over 35,000 registered refugees in Belgium, De Croo said.
The Belgian official maintained, in context, that Russian President Vladimir Putin will not go unpunished.
"Perhaps I should have mentioned one last miscalculation of President Putin - namely that he will not go unpunished. We see the war crimes having been committed, we see that the civilian population has been targeted, we see refugees being attacked, it is very clear for us and we are united in the sense that these things need to be known, evaluated and prosecuted at some point. Some people are responsible for what happened and must be held accountable," he said.
Alexander De Croo is convinced that other sanctions will be imposed on the Russian Federation for an even stronger impact, but this must be done in a prudent manner, "without endangering our own population and its prosperity."
The Belgian Prime Minister appreciated the efforts made by Romania to help the Ukrainian refugees.
The balanced, long-term consolidation of NATO's defense and deterrence posture must be accelerated, President Klaus Iohannis said on Tuesday at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace in a joint conference with Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo.
"In terms of security, we have emphasized the need for the rapid implementation of the recent decisions made at the Alliance's Extraordinary Summit, especially the creation of the Battlegroup in Romania. The balanced, long-term consolidation of NATO's defense and deterrence posture across the entire Eastern Flank in response to Russia's aggression must be accelerated. It is clear that we need a united, coherent and stronger defense on the Eastern Flank in order to have a more effective deterrence, especially at the Black Sea," said the head of state.
President Iohannis stressed the need for a new NATO Strategic Concept, which must "reaffirm collective defense as a fundamental priority task of the Alliance and explicitly state that Russia is the main threat to NATO security."
The head of state thanked Prime Minister Alexander De Croo for the presence in Constanta of the Belgian contingent deployed as part of the NATO Response Force, together with other Allied forces.
"This contribution is part of the NATO measures to consolidate the deterrence and defence posture and the security of the Eastern Flank of the Alliance," Iohannis also said, mentioning that on Wednesday they will visit together the Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base.
The two officials discussed about the development of the crisis in Ukraine and its impact, as well as the response to it. The head of state emphasized the efforts of Romania to support the over 720,000 Ukrainian refugees that have crossed the border into Romania and the results of the activity of the hub in Suceava.
President Iohannis mentioned that it is also essential to consolidate the strategic resilience of the Allies, as well as that of the partners, especially the more vulnerable ones, such as the Republic of Moldova and Georgia.
"In this context, I have emphasized the full support of Romania for the Republic of Moldova, for its European path, and I drew attention to its firm and immediate support in managing the increased flows of refugees that the country is facing, together with multiple other challenges. We must ensure a substantial and coherent support for the Republic of Moldova, political, financial and logistical in nature, as well as in what regards energy security," said the head of state.
The discussions also regarded the topic of energy security at the European level.
"We agree in what regards the elimination, as soon as possible, of the energy dependency on the Russian Federation, as well as on the need to diminish the impact of high energy prices on consumers. We have convened, at the same time, to continue bilateral dialogue on the ways to increase the safety of energy supply of the European market, but also the measures to protect European citizens in the volatile context of the energy market," said Iohannis.
The two officials have emphasized the common interest for the consolidation of political dialogue and economic and sectorial cooperation.
În this context, President Klaus Iohannis said that it is good the energy mix is decided at the level of each European country, showing that Romania will extend the capacity of the Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant and probably in a relatively short time frame there will be small, modular nuclear power plants.
"It's a known matter and I believe that it is good that the energy mix is at the national decision, so each state decides what kind of energy mix it promotes and uses to satisfy the needs of the population and the national economy. We, in Romania, have decided to invest also in renewable energy, but also in civilian nuclear energy, and we will do this, we will extend the capacity of the Cernavoda Power Plant, probably in a relatively short time frame we will have small, modular nuclear plants, which can be used to fulfill the needs of the energy grid. At the same time, through the PNRR [National Plan for Recovery and Resilience], green energy is financed, we will have renewables and certainly we will have a higher and higher production in hydrogen. If other states have other approaches, we respect this, I don't believe that it would be useful for the energy mix to be established at the European level and become mandatory, because each state has a national interest and has national opportunities, some have more wind, some have more hydro energy, others prefer to invest in nuclear, but it is important to have a powerful European energy market, to have energy available at prices established in an intelligent and transparent manner, so that we don't have a repeat of the situation we are in now, when the strong dependency on a single supplier practically brought us to an energy crisis," said Iohannis, during the joint press conference with Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo.
The Belgian official said that his country took the decision to extend the functioning of nuclear power plants.
He added that the situation called for diversification, as much as possible, and even deliberate choices to disconnect from Russia, also addressing discontent with the rate of progress, saying that the application of such a strategy takes time and must be made step by step, at the same time emphasizing that the impact of disconnecting from energy sources from Russia will be very strong on the Russian economy.
The Belgian official also said that at the European level, the nuclear energy factor is not ignored, but part of the mix, and investments will focus on smaller, modular nuclear units.