StateSec Ciamba tackles topics of interest in bilateral, European cooperation on his visit to Czech Republic

Secretary of State for Strategic and Bilateral Affairs in the Euro-Atlantic Space George Ciamba, while paying a visit to the Czech Republic, talked with officials in Prague about topics of interest featuring on the European agenda regarding the bilateral relation, as well as the good cooperation of Romania and the Czech Republic in the European Union, the Foreign Affairs Ministry (MAE) informs.

State Secretary Ciamba carried out consultations with State Secretary for European Affairs of the Czech Government Ales Chmelar and with Czech Deputy Defence Minister Jakub Landovsky. Within the meetings, the Czech officials confirmed the special character of the cooperation with Romania on a regional, European and international level, highlighting the traditional relations between the two states, a release of the MAE sent on Friday informs.

The dialogue with Czech State Secretary for European Affairs Ales Chmelar aimed at topics of interest for the bilateral relation that feature on the European agenda and both parties highlighted the importance of continuing the enlargement and consolidation process of the relationships with states in the Eastern Neighbourhood of the EU.

On this occasion, the Romanian State Secretary pointed out the good cooperation between Romania and the Czech Republic on a European level, with the two states situating on closed positions - a competitive and strong Europe from an economic point of view. The two officials reiterated their support for the European Union policies that support convergence: the Cohesion Policy and the Common Agricultural Policy.

According to the quoted source, the Romanian dignitary underscored, in this context, Romania's interest for the efforts to strengthen the European project, including from the perspective of holding the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, and reiterated Romania's priority goal, that of joining Schengen as quickly as possible, taking into account that Romania meets all the requirements.

During the meeting with Czech Deputy Defence Minister Jakub Landovsky, topics connected to the bilateral cooperation on a military level inside the Alliance were tackled, as well as the transatlantic relation, the cooperation on the EU level and the NATO-EU relation.

George Ciamba reiterated the importance of implementing the conclusions of the NATO Summit in Warsaw and strengthening allied unity, coherence and solidarity in the current security context.

The Romanian official expressed support for a solid transatlantic relation, based on the allied unity and solidarity, while highlighting Romania's role as contributor in promoting security and stability. Furthermore, he reconfirmed the necessity to continue the measures regarding the strengthening of the deterrence and defence posture on the eastern flank, including in the Black Sea area.

According to the MAE release, also expressed was the solidarity with the UK, while firmly condemning the use of a neurotoxic agent in Salisbury, on the soil of an allied state.

Furthermore, the results of the latest Bucharest 9 Initiative defence ministers' meeting were hailed.

During the visit to the Czech Republic, the Romanian dignitary also had an informal meeting with a series of mission heads of EU member states - Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain - and of the neighborhood, as well as with Undersecretary of State within the Czech Government Jan Kral, occasion on which topics of interest on the international and European agenda were reviewed.

State Secretary George Ciamba's visit also includes a meeting with representatives of the Romanian Association of the Czech Republic. AGERPRES (RO - editor: Karina Olteanu; EN - editor: Rodica State)