ForMin Aurescu: Euroatlantic Resilience Centre will be in the service of both NATO allies and EU states

Foreign Affairs Minister Bogdan Aurescu told Agerpres in an interview that the Euroatlantic Resilience Centre is an extremely important project of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which he wants completed this year.

"Works are already in an advanced stage on a Government Decision regulating the organization and operation of this centre that will report to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This is a necessity, the resilience concept is increasingly present in the area of concern of both the European Union and of the North Atlantic Alliance," Aurescu said.

"We have positive reactions from NATO and EU member states, because this resilience concept is very, very important, including in the context of the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. For a start, the centre will function as a Romanian institution, but in a short time we will move to internationalize its activities by co-opting foreign experts who will work together with Romanian experts on several tiers, in the first place on reducing risks through an early warning activity, on adaptation, collection of best practices in the field of resilience and also research on resilience, education, training and joint exercises," the ForMin explained.

According to the Romanian top diplomat, this centre will be in the service of both NATO allies and EU member states, it will obviously benefit Romania, because resilience has both an internal and an external component, and at the same time it will be dedicated to the neighboring partners, NATO and EU partners.

"This centre will be a combination of military-type elements, but in a broader sense, in a broader sense of security, with its various components, from misinformation to hybrid aspects, taking care not to overlap the centre's activity with that of other already existing centres of excellence or of hubs of a similar type, which target certain components of response to the various risks and threats we are experiencing at this time internationally. It will promote a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach, so it will also deal with the societal aspects of resilience. It will deal with a whole range of concerns in response to a host of risks and vulnerabilities we face around the globe today," Bogdan Aurescu also said in the interview.

On the other hand, Aurescu, said that within the next two years he has planned "a profound renewal" of the diplomatic and consular corps and announces a "zero tolerance" regarding not respecting interaction conduct with the Romanian citizens.

"There are Romanian citizens who sometime complain about the quality of these services or complain about the treatment they are receiving at the counter. I promoted a zero tolerance policy towards our colleagues who do not respect the absolutely necessary rules of conduct in the relations with the Romanian citizens, but on the other hand there is also a need for a better training of the consular agents, consular civil servants, so that, the consular services can be of better quality," the minister says.

Furthermore, he reminds that there will be more jobs posted for contest within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "As a result, we have the opportunity this year and the following one to accomplish a deep renewal of the consular and diplomatic corps, but also of other execution jobs, specific to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs," Aurescu specifies.

During the interview the minister also talked about the importance of a "more strategic" approach of the EU-Russia relation, alongside the priorities of the Strategic Partnership with the USA, in the context of the new Administration in Washington.

Aurescu added that in the next two years he is considering a "deep renewal" of the diplomatic and consular corps, adding that several hundred posts will be put up for grabs to this end.

"We want to introduce into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs people who are very well trained, who are suitable from a professional point of view, but also from the point of view of conduct, general training, tasks and requirements and the quite special working conditions entailed by the activity in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs," he said.

Aurescu went on to explain that "As you have noticed, we also carried out a renewal of the leadership of diplomatic missions both last year, when there was a first wave of recalls and appointments respectively, with a significant renewal, with a significant number of mission heads who are appointed for the first time to such a position. This time, we've had 23 recalls and a number close to appointments to these positions. We also made sure that at least one third of these positions are occupied by women," he added.

"At the level of the leadership positions with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, more than 54 pct are held by the ladies, and at the level of the missions, almost 36 pct of the positions are occupied by female diplomats," Aurescu emphasized.

"We try to make it so that as many consular services as possible can be performed digitally, so that we reduce as much as possible the physical presence of the Romanian citizen at the counter. Therefore, in the coming period we will have three important categories of consular services that will be de-bureaucratised, a number of consular services that we can de-bureaucratise and streamline without the need for legislative changes," the minister said.

Also, he added, "We will continue the process of expanding the consular network. At the end of last year, we adopted in the Government a Memorandum providing for the extension of the consular network, the opening of new offices, about 18 new consular posts. This year, for example, we are working to open new Consulates General by transforming the consular sections from a number of embassies in major capitals," he stressed.

The chief diplomat added that "Equally, we will be concerned with the efficiency of the call center of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, because this call center was initiated, launched, in 2015 and is already physically and morally outdated."

"We have done an exercise to consult the Romanian communities, we have developed a first form of this plan of itinerant consulates, we will put up the result of this process for public debate and consultation," he said.

"Another line of action I have in mind is the much better professional training of those who provide consular services. There are Romanian citizens who sometimes complain about the quality of these services or complain about the treatment they receive at the counter. I have promoted a policy of zero tolerance towards our colleagues who do not respect the absolutely necessary rules of conduct in relation to Romanian citizens, but on the other hand there is also a need for a greater effort to train consular agents, consular officials, so that consular services are of much better quality," Aurescu said.

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