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FAC: ForMin Aurescu speaks of Romania's concerns over escalation of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Bogdan Aurescu spoke Monday at the meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) in Luxembourg about Romania's concern over the escalation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and emphasized the need for the parties to fully respect the recent ceasefire agreement, "which unfortunately has already been broken."
Aurescu mentioned that Romania has constantly encouraged the parties to find the necessary political will and to constructively engage in defusing the hostilities and resume substantive negotiations, in compliance with international law, with the mediation of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group.
He also stressed that this reactivation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict draws attention to the fact that there is a real arc of instability in the Black Sea region, generated by the existence of a chain of long-running or frozen conflicts that can be reheated at any time and must be dealt with in a comprehensive manner, because they affect not only the security of the region, but also of Europe in general. Therefore, ForMin Aurescu proposed the inclusion on the agenda of a future FAC meeting of a debate on the frozen / long-running conflicts in the Black Sea region.
... and about Belarus developments
Foreign Affairs Minister Bogdan Aurescu also spoke at a meeting of the Foreign Affairs ministers of the EU Member States in Luxembourg on Monday about the developments in Belarus, the Foreign Ministry said in a release sent on Monday.
Minister Aurescu expressed concern for the continuing deterioration of the internal situation, as the Belarusian authorities have shown no interest in engaging in dialogue with the population and civil society to put an end to the crisis. He welcomed the decision to adopt additional restrictive measures at EU level by including on the sanctions list 40 people responsible for election fraud and repression, noting that Romania is among the countries that have recently co-sponsored and supported the extension of this list, including the blacklisting of Aleksander Lukashenko, a proposal Romania has made since August. He also said that if the situation deteriorates further, additional sanctions on the regime, possibly of an economic type, will most likely be required.
"In the conditions in which the crisis in Belarus has entered a new stage, amid the way Aleksander Lukashenko has claimed his mandate, the Romanian official showed that the EU's relations with the Belarusian authorities are likely to deteriorate further, as has happened recently with the forcing of the recall for consultations of the Polish and Lithuanian ambassadors to Minsk, who had to leave the country for a period of time," the MAE release points out.
According to the source, the Romanian top diplomat "stressed the need for a firm and rapid action of the EU to the decisions of the Belarusian authorities" and noted that, in solidarity with Poland and Lithuania, Romania decided on Friday to join the EU states that withdrew their ambassadors from Minsk for consultations, a decision implemented as of Monday.
At the same time, Aurescu said he was satisfied that the conclusions of the European Council at the beginning of October took up the proposals of President Klaus Iohannis and his Polish and Lithuanian counterparts to create a comprehensive package of EU economic support for a democratic Belarus, to be drawn up by the Commission. Last but not least, Bogdan Aurescu reiterated the need for the EU to continue to actively support civil society in Belarus.
În this context, he also spoke about the "necessity to accomplish a veritable strategy regarding EU - Russia relations," shows the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) in a release sent on Monday.
Regarding Russia, the Romanian minister "emphasized the importance of in-depth talks of the EU's relations with the Russian Federation, in light of recent developments - including the poisoning of Alexei Navalny".
In this context, Minister Bogdan Aurescu showed that the main approach of the EU in relation with Russia up to now "maintains its actuality and validness, being necessary to maintain a unitary and balanced position moving forward in applying the five guiding principles that govern this relation since 2016. More attention has to be granted by the EU in engaging the civil society in Russia."