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Federica Mogherini about the role that Romania can play in connecting Turkey and the European Union
The role that Romania can play is very important in connecting Turkey and the European Union, in helping the two sides understand the mutual positions and developing their relation potential, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini said in Bucharest on Friday.
Asked within a joint press conference with Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu if Romania could contribute to improving the understanding and communication with Turkey, Mogherini said that there are prospects in this respect. She pointed out that she is grateful to the Romanian presidency for this, although there have been countries in the region, such as Bulgaria, in the period when it held the rotating presidency at the EU Council, which ensured a special perspective on the relation with Turkey.
She reiterated that she paid a visit to Turkey some months ago with European Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn.
We have had for the first time after a certain time a high-level political dialogue session hosted by Foreign Minister Cavusoglu and we had good talks regarding foreign policy matters in which Turkey and the EU have a common interest of reaching a positive solution. We don't agree on everything, but there are many matters in which our interests converge and I believe intensifying cooperation in particular in the strategic areas of foreign and security policy is a common interest, Mogherini also said.
The goals achieved within the Eastern Partnership (EaP), as well as the commercial and association agreements with Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Georgia and the visa liberalisation would have seemed impossible not necessarily ten years ago, in the beginning of this cooperation format, but also in the beginning of the mandate of Federica Mogherini said on Friday.
„We have achieved so much with all our eastern partners. Looking back just a few years ago, not necessarily ten, some things would have been unbelievable at the time, especially regarding Ukraine as well as the Republic of Moldova and Georgia. We have managed to fulfill the main three objectives which we decide to work on together with the three countries: the commercial agreement, which is the most advanced that we could attain, the association agreement, which ensures us a framework for regular exchanges and cooperation on a political level in various sectors, and the visa liberalisation which has always been a priority of the agenda for the three countries and which has brought an immediate change for the citizens in Ukraine, as well as those of the Republic of Moldova and Georgia”, Mogherini said, in reply to a request to assess what has been achieved so far within EaP.
The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy also pointed out she does not comment on the statement of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, according to whom Ukraine would file the accession to the UE request in 2024, but she pointed out that there is a goal agenda for 2020 and that they are positive that these changes, which are extremely concrete in terms of the manner in which they could affect citizens' lives can be implemented.