Acting ForMin Manescu advocates East - West cooperation, as new global order is about to set in

Eastern and Western European states need to cooperate, and the EU should tighten the relationship with the US, because a new global order is about to set in, acting Foreign Affairs Minister Ramona Manescu on Thursday told the Bucharest Forum, an event organized by the Aspen Institute and the Bucharest Office of the German Marshall Fund of the US. I am convinced that Romania's mandate at the Presidency of the EU Council has provided 'food for thought' on how the East and the West can cooperate, on how we can move forward with various subjects on our agenda. I believe that the former East has become part of the new West and that obsessively talking about stereotypes is just a waste of political energy. We should invest our resources in the management of global divisions. We can do this by working together and with joint proposals for a new global order that safeguards the fundamentals of our values and interests. These are necessary because a new global order is about to set in, whether we like it or not, Manescu said. She argued that energy, for instance, has become both a strategic objective and a weapon in the strategic game, as proven by the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, and influences European and global politics. According to Manescu, Romania can be a strong voice both for strengthening relations within the EU, but also for tightening EU - US cooperation. Romania and the EU must work together with their allies. Even though in recent years transatlantic relations have been marked by perceived hostility due to different approaches, we continue to strongly believe that the EU and the US must continue to work closely, to strengthen their relationship. The EU and the US are mutually indispensable security partners and this has been proven throughout history, they have been the best partners, said the Romanian top diplomat. Manescu concluded by recalling that 30 years ago the EU and the US have joined forces to help the Eastern and Southeastern European countries get rid of communism and that they must all keep on working together. AGERPRES (RO - author: Florentina Cernat, editor: Andreea Marinescu; EN - author: Simona Klodnischi, editor: Simona Iacob)