#Romania2019.eu/ForMin Melescanu: Romania proposes organisation of special meeting dedicated to systemic approach of hybrid war, misinformation

AGERPRES special correspondent Tudor Martalogu reports: Romanian Foreign Affairs Minister Teodor Melescanu announced on Monday that he proposed at the meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) in Brussels the organisation of a special meeting dedicated to "a systemic approach of the hybrid war and of misinformation."

The external aspects of the action plan to combat misinformation, presented in December by the European Commission, have been one of the themes tackled on Monday by the foreign ministers of the member states.

"There is a statement adopted by the EU. I insisted on the idea that we now need to establish what means and resources we have to really put in place a strategy to combat misinformation. From this point of view, I promised that during the tenure of the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union we will present a draft roadmap related to the measures that we propose so that the fight against misinformation can truly have concrete results and most of all, we want to know very clearly who is doing what, which are the responsibilities and the means and resources on this topic," Melescanu said.

He mentioned that there is a great deal of concern at EU level, especially in the context of the elections to the European Parliament, the aim of the member countries' efforts being for the EU to become one of the world leaders in combating misinformation.

Another issue highlighted by Teodor Melescanu was the importance that Romania attaches to the Eastern Partnership, the Romanian official announcing that our country has committed itself to seriously contributing to the organization of a ministerial meeting on this issue.

"My first intervention was devoted to the priorities that Romania grants while providing the Presidency of the Council of the European Union on issues related to the EU's external action, increasing the EU's efficiency and internal and external security security, promoting the enlargement policy of the European Union, especially with the Western Balkans, where we hope to have concrete results," the head of the Romanian diplomacy said.

An important topic that Romania will consider during the presidency of the EU Council will be the promotion of multilateralism, with a focus on closer cooperation between the EU and the UN, being important for the stance of the EU member states to be a coherent one, the Romanian minister went on to say.

The agenda of the FAC meeting also featured the relations between the EU and ASEAN and the Arab states. In preparation of the EU-League of Arab States summit due to take place in the Egyptian resort Sharm el-Sheikh, the European foreign ministers are to adopt a political statement on 4 February in Brussels. AGERPRES (RO - editor: Gabriela Ionescu; EN - author: Simona Iacob, editor: Bogdan Gabaroi)