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PM Grindeanu: Romania and Estonia have similar visions regarding EU's future
Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu professed on Wednesday, at the end of the meeting with his Estonian counterpart, Juri Ratas, on an official visit to our country, that Romania and Estonia have similar visions and uphold the importance of consensus and inclusiveness in the thinking process related to the European Union's future.
In the context of Estonia's takeover of the presidency of the EU Council in the second half of this year, the head of the Bucharest Executive expressed Romania's support "for the ambitious agenda of the Estonian presidency."
"We agreed to enhance coordination between our countries from the perspective of the Romanian Presidency (the European Union Council — ed.n.) in the first semester of 2019. I presented to my Estonian counterpart the preparations that we are undertaking for the 2019 Presidency. In this context, I would like to reiterate the Government's determination to have a successful, efficient presidency that will allow the advancement of important European files. We have also discussed today about the future of the EU. I can tell you that I am pleased to find that Romania and Estonia have similar views, that fellowship and the inclusiveness in the reflection process of the EU future are of major importance to us. The result of European debates must be to the benefit of all Member States, without any fragmentation," affirmed Sorin Grindeanu at the joint press conference held at Victoria Palace next to the Estonian Prime Minister Juri Ratas.
The Romanian Prime Minister added that during the talks he expressed his support for "the added value of the European Policies: the Cohesion Policy and the Agricultural Policy".
Another topic was Brexit, the head of the Bucharest Executive stating that Romania supports the unity of the European Union in future negotiations on the basis of what has already been agreed by the Member States. "The rights of Romanians living, working or studying in the UK are a matter of major concern to us. One of our important goals in the context of Brexit is to protect their rights and ensure that they are not discriminated against," underlined Grindeanu.
The premier mentioned that he has also conveyed to his Estonian counterpart Romania's interest in the Eastern Partnership, that the Estonian Presidency will organise in November, saying that "Romania remains an active companion of our Eastern partners, especially the Republic of Moldova."
Grindeanu added that together with his Estonian counterpart "we have agreed to work together to strengthen the economic dimension, but also to develop cooperation in other sectors, such as security, defence, culture, tourism, education, cybersecurity. Romania's Government is also interested in ensuring the digitization of public services, and Estonia has a strong experience in this regard. We have expressed the openness to significantly develop cooperation with our friends in Estonia with regard to e-government policy. Taking into account the experience of Romania and Estonia in the cyber field, but also given the threats we faced and are literally facing in this sector, we had a very useful exchange with the Prime Minister about future cooperation arrangements, given that Estonia hosts the NATO Centre of Excellence in the field," specified Grindeanu.
The prime minister also mentioned that another focus of the talks was "security aspects of the eastern flank".