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Romania's commitment to strengthening cooperation in wider Black Sea region reaffirmed at the BSEC’s ministerial meeting
Minister of Foreign Affairs Bogdan Aurescu reaffirmed at the 42nd Meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization (BSEC) member states Romania's commitment for strengthening regional cooperation in the wider Black Sea region, as a way to promote stability and prosperity, informs a press release of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) sent on Friday.
Minister Aurescu chaired the meeting that marked the end of Romania's term as BSEC Presidency-in-Office held during 2020, and the symbolic takeover of the mandate by the Republic of Albania for the first half of 2021.
The meeting was attended by the Foreign Ministers of Bulgaria, Albania, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, North Macedonia, Serbia, Ukraine, the Deputy Foreign Ministers of the Hellenic Republic, the Russian Federation and Turkey, the Country Coordinator of the Secretariat of the Republic of Armenia and Secretary General of the BSEC Permanent International Secretariat (PERMIS).
The ministerial meeting also represented a moment of activity stocktaking carried out under the mandate of the Romanian Presidency-in-Office of the BSEC related to the economic dimension of cooperation, in order to provide an adequate regional response in the context of the COVID-19 crisis.
According to the MAE, the representatives of the member states and related bodies, observers and BSEC dialogue partners unanimously voiced appreciation for the performance of the Romanian Presidency.
Minister Aurescu welcomed the accession of the Republic of North Macedonia to the BSEC on November 9, 2020, as the Organization's 13th member state. The Romanian top diplomat expressed his confidence that the commitment and active support of the Republic of North Macedonia will contribute to the consolidation of the regional dialogue and to the dynamization of the economic cooperation in the enlarged region of the Black Sea.
Bogdan Aurescu underlined that, in accordance with the motto "Bridging Shores Enhancing Cohesion", Romania envisaged to unfold its term based on an agenda of transparent and inclusive priorities based on the cohesion imperative at the BSEC level.
The Minister recalled that the progress made by the Romanian Presidency-in-Office of the BSEC at the institutional level was meant to strengthen the Organization's institutional profile and efficiency and highlighted that Romania decided to exceptionally extend its Presidency's term of office for the second half of 2020.
In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the head of the Romanian Diplomacy mentioned the initiatives and actions initiated by the Romanian Presidency-in-Office for the relaunch of economic activity in two priority areas - transport and tourism and for progress in climate change, such as climate protection, sustainable development, competitiveness.
Aurescu brought to mind the importance that Romania attached to boosting BSEC interaction with regional and international organizations and welcomed the adoption, on November 23, 2020, of the biannual UN General Assembly Resolution for the future BSEC-UN cooperation.
"The Romanian chief diplomat reaffirmed the priority importance of advancing regional cooperation in the Black Sea with EU support, which may be able to support the demarches of BSEC member states aimed at the region's economic recovery in the context generated by the COVID-19 pandemic. In this sense, he stressed the relevance for the sustainable development of advancing the pragmatic cooperation initiated within the Common Maritime Agenda at the Black Sea and the Strategic Agenda for Research and Innovation at the Black Sea, documents adopted during the Romanian Presidency of the EU Council in 2019," reads the release.
Romania is a founding state of the BSEC and President-in-Office since January 1, 2020, for the sixth time since the institutionalization of the Organization in 1992.
The Black Sea cooperation process was launched by the signing of the Istanbul Declaration on 25 June 1992, with the aim of accelerating the economic and social development of the member states.
On 5 June 1998, the participating states signed the BSEC Charter, thus transforming the political initiative into an international organization with a regional character. The BSEC currently comprises 13 member states - Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, the Republic of Moldova, the Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, the Russian Federation, Turkey, Ukraine and Serbia.