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PM Ciolacu meets Greek counterpart in Athens
In Athens on Monday, Romania's Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu had a meeting with Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis to discuss reinforcing bilateral and regional co-operation, as well as support for Ukraine, Moldova and the Western Balkan countries.
Ciolacu was in Athens on Monday to attend a working meeting of the heads of state or government from South-Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans organised by Mitsotakis, where also attending were President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and President of the European Council Charles Michel.
"Great meeting with the Prime Minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis discussing how to reinforce our bilateral and regional co-operation, support Ukraine, Republic of Moldova and Western Balkan countries in their European path and move closer to the Schengen accession," Ciolacu wrote in a social media post.
According to the Romanian government, discussions touched on the expansion of bilateral and regional co-operation between the two countries focused on increasing economic exchanges and boosting co-operation in key sectoral areas, such as the energy sector.
"The two prime ministers discussed the new Greek investment in Romania in the field of energy, the participation of Greek companies in infrastructure projects in Romania, and also the presence of Romanian companies on the Greek market."
Regarding the extension of the Schengen Area, Ciolacu explained the strategic reasons for a decision favorable to Romania and thanked the Greek side for constant support.
"Also, the Romanian prime minister reiterated Romania's support for the advancement of the enlargement process, both in the Western Balkans region and in the European Union's Eastern neighbourhood based on the candidates' own merits in fulfilling the necessary criteria. Thus, he emphasised Romania's continual support for the European path of Ukraine and Moldova and, implicitly, the objective of opening accession negotiations with both states, as soon as possible."
The two dignitaries also had an exchange of views on regional security.
"The measures taken by Romania to cope with the current challenges in the Black Sea, the aid offered to the Moldova and Ukraine, and also the support that Romania needs at the European level as a state on the front line, were presented."