RSS
July's NATO summit agenda must cover relation with Russia, NATO-EU partnership enhancement, Iohannis says
The NATO summit agenda due in July must cover the relationship of the Alliance with Russia, as well as the enhancement of the NATO-European Union partnership, president Klaus Iohannis specified on Tuesday at the annual meeting with the diplomatic missions' heads in Bucharest.
"In addition, the summit will have to endorse measures so that the NATO better screens stability in the proximity, both in the East and in the South, through support given to the partner states, so that they are more resilient to various threats. This is the reason why Romania endorses - as it did at the May 2017's high level reunion - the increase of the Alliance's role in combating terrorism, including by enhancing the capacities of the Southern partners to deal with this phenomenon. At the same time, the agenda must cover, for obvious reasons, the relationship with Russia, as well as the strengthening of the NATO-EU partnership, which we strongly support, because it renders the action of the two organisations in key domains efficient and it eases the synergy and complementarity of their action," the president asserted.
He stressed that Romania will do everything it takes so that the NATO remains "the strongest and most efficient Alliance of collective defence in history."
"In the current complex security context, the Allied Summit will have to find answers to further enhance the collective defence and the deterrence against the risks, threats and challenges from the East, but also to properly answer the ones in the South. In this respect, the NATO must stay united, strong and more cohesive in implementing its decisions. The Alliance's coherence in its entirety is important to the NATO and to Romania, because it builds a more efficient NATO and ensures a better defended Eastern flank, through an advanced unitary presence included, based on a coherent approach from North to South, from the Baltic to the Black Sea," the president added.
Iohannis pleaded for the trans-Atlantic relation's strengthening, saying that it represents "the guarantee of the Alliance's optimum functioning" and of the collective defence as it is defined by Article V of the Washington Treaty.
"Romania has advocated - in June 2017, in Washington, in Berlin and in general in last year's European occasions - and will continue to advocate the enhancement of the trans-Atlantic relationship both as a US strong strategic partner and as a state deeply attached to the European integration and the relaunch of the strengthening of the European project," he mentioned.
Iohannis also highlighted that 2017 was "an exceptional year" for the strategic partnership with the USA, and this year the cooperation will be consolidated in the political, military and economic fields.
"The very good meeting with president Trump, in June 2017 resulted in the strategic partnership's relaunch and strengthening, then at its 20th anniversary, in all of its dimensions. At the same time, the meeting with president Trump reconfirmed the commitment of the United States to our region's security, Romania's included. We shall, therefore, act resolutely to enforce the decisions made on that visit. This year too, we will consistently strengthen our political and military cooperation, by continuing to allocate 2pct of the GDP to defence sector, included, and yet we shall have to also make progress in developing the mutual commercial exchanges and investments, and the other dimensions of the Partnership, respectively," Iohannis concluded.
Syrian and Libyan files need tangible progress
The Syrian and Libyan files need tangible progress, underscored President Klaus Iohannis on Tuesday, at the annual meeting with the heads of diplomatic missions accredited to Bucharest, and that there is also need of clear steps to be taken in peacefully solving the North-Korean issue.
"I believe that the peace process in the Middle East must benefit from a relaunch of direct negotiations, to allow reaching a sustainable and comprehensive solution, and to allow the two states, Palestine and Israel, to live in peace. The Syrian and Libyan files also need a tangible progress. We must be more active in what concerns the economic and political dimension in these regions, and the same in our relation with the states in Asia, Latin America and Africa. We have already started to work for this. The recent visit, which was a very good one, of the Japanese Prime Minister, and the first in our bilateral history, has as a result, among other things, the decision to bring our relation to the next level of a strategic partnership, which is a good example in support of this. At the same time, we also need more clear steps, decisive, in peacefully solving the North-Korean issue," specified Iohannis.