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Iohannis, Radev, about the situation generated by the military aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine
President Klaus Iohannis welcomed, on Tuesday, at the Cotroceni Palace, his Bulgarian counterpart, Rumen Radev, who is conducting a working visit to Romania.
The two presidents have scheduled one-on-one talks and official talks.
NATO's eastern flank must be strengthened in the context of the war in Ukraine, at the level of the one in the Baltic Sea area, in order to prevent any conflict in the area, President Klaus Iohannis said on Tuesday, after the discussions held at the Cotroceni Palace with his Bulgarian counterpart, Rumen Radev.
"We do not believe that this conflict will extend to NATO countries, but on the other hand, we want to be very well prepared for any situation, that is why in the eastern flank we must bolster the defense. The eastern flank must be strong and must be so strong that no one ever has the idea that it should attack on the eastern flank. This is NATO's Strenght and Deterrence concept, which makes any possible adversary give up an attack. It is very clear that the eastern flank must be strengthened, it must be balanced in such a way that our part, the southern part, the part towards the Black Sea is as well consolidated and defended as the northern part, towards the Baltic, in this sense we believe that we can prevent any conflict in our area," the president said, at the joint press conference with the visiting Bulgarian counterpart.
President Iohannis stressed that the security and stability of the Black Sea are very important, and each riparian state has a responsibility to ensure them.
"Romania will continue to act as a state responsible for ensuring the security of our citizens and the region, being fully open to cooperation with Bulgaria for this purpose," the president said.
The Bulgarian President asserted that there are risks and in this context joint efforts are needed to neutralise them.
"We should always think in perspective and think preemptively about the risks. You can see that drones have already begun to fly, they're going all the way to Croatia. Yesterday a drone fell in Romania. We have blows that are a few kilometres from the Polish border, which is very worrying. There is a potential for also destabilising the situation in Moldova, Romania's neighbours, so that the risks exist, are present and that is why our joint efforts should lead to neutralizing these risks," Rumen Radev said.
The central topic of the discussions between the two high officials was the serious security situation generated by the military aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, as well as the combating of its multiple effects.
President Klaus Iohannis reconfirmed Romania's full support for all the refugees from Ukraine who come to our country and presented the measures adopted to help them.
The two top officials also discussed the steps taken to provide humanitarian support, including through the operation of the logistics center in northeastern Suceava, which collects and transfers to Ukraine and, if necessary, to the Republic of Moldova, the international aid.
"It is quite possible that the flows of refugees will increase. That is why I have discussed with President Radev the best ways of coordinating so that we can cope well with this crisis without precedent," President Iohannis said.
The Romanian president stressed the need for the EU, together with all its member states, to provide support to the Republic of Moldova in the context of the large number of Ukrainian refugees, as well as in terms of increasing its resilience.
He added that at the level of the North-Atlantic Alliance there are technical talks regarding establishing an allied battle group in Romania, showing that by the end of spring there could be good conclusions regarding this.
"We, Romania and Bulgaria, are collaborating very closely and well regarding joint defence and NATO. You probably remember that Bulgaria plays a very important role within the multi-national Brigade, we have had a very good understanding on this topic since the beginning. There are now talks about forming a battle group, which represents a permanent NATO presence in Romania and it is known that France declared to become a framework-nation for this battle group. There are technical talks within NATO on this topic and we believe that by the end of spring we will have good conclusions regarding the battle group, and then we can make several public statements on this topic," Klaus Iohannis specified at Cotroceni Palace, during the joint press conference with his Bulgarian counterpart, Rumen Radev, on a working visit in Romania.
Iohannis highlighted that it is important for Romania and Bulgaria to have a solid air police and a solid air defence.
The head of state reminded that within the Supreme Council for Country's Defence (CSAT), the acquisition of F16 aircraft was approved, most of them already being in Romania.
"Another part are already negotiated and will arrive shortly," he said.
The president also highlighted the good cooperation with Bulgaria regarding the air police, adding that "We do not intend to leave a part of the Eastern Flank uncovered".
The European Fast Danube project, aimed at improving navigation on the Danube, needs to be quickly implemented, President Klaus Iohannis said on Tuesday, at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace, at a joint press conference with his Bulgarian counterpart, Rumen Radev, who is currently on a working visit to Romania.
"In a context in which interconnection is essential for us all, and the Danube plays an important role for both countries, I have discussed with President Radev about the joint objectives that regard, on the one hand, the construction of new bridges across the Danube and, on the other hand, the finding of solutions to ensure navigation on the Danube. We need to quickly implement the European Fast Danube project, co-financed by the European Commission, aimed at improving navigation on the Danube, on the common Romanian-Bulgarian part of the Danube. The interest is a joint one and I am convinced that the Ministries of Transport of the two countries will accelerate discussions in this direction," said Iohannis.
According to the head of state, from the point of view of economic cooperation, Romania is the second commercial partner of Bulgaria among the European Union's member states.
"We are glad to note that, last year, the bilateral commercial flows recorded a significant increase, to over 6 billion euro, by 55 percent higher than in 2020. There is still a high potential for new opportunities in the economic domain and at the sectorial level, including as regards increasing reciprocal investments," Klaus Iohannis showed.
In his turn, the President of Bulgaria, Rumen Radev, emphasized that in the context of the war in Ukraine there is need for interconnection between Bulgaria and Romania at the level of transport, energy, digital, new natural gas connections.
"I expect - and it is a joint appeal of ours to the governments of the two countries - to take powerful measures. We have been speaking for a long time about bridges, speaking about motorways, about rail connections, about pipelines, but this war shows that it is finally time to take measures and combat that gap. Our ambitions for economic, social development - we can't have them without real interconnection," Rumen Radev said.
(Photo:https://www.presidency.ro/)