Klaus Iohannis: Romania contributes, with enthusiasm and full involvement, in shaping of EU future

AGERPRES special correspondent Loredana Ciobanu reports: President Klaus Iohannis said on Tuesday at the annual meeting of the Parliamentary Group of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) that Romania represents an important partner within the EU and our country contributes to "the shaping of the European Union's future." Romania's president tackled varied topics, ranging from the EU traditional policies, such as climate, migration, people's transport, road transport, protection of outer borders, Romania's accession to the Schengen area, to the relationship between our country and Germany. "Allow me to use this occasion to bring to mind that last year we celebrated 30 years since the fall of the Iron Curtain as well as 30 years since the Revolution of December 1989 in Romania. In these last 30 years, Romania has gone a long way towards a democratic, pluralistic society, within a society project based on the democratisation of the country, its anchoring in the European value system, through the accession to the European Union and NATO. I wish to pay homage to all the Romanian citizens who have made this path possible, through attachment to the European family, tenacity and perseverance. Hence, Romania is contributing today, 30 years since the December Revolution, with enthusiasm and full involvement in the shaping of the European Union's future, of our joint future as Europeans, showed President Iohannis, on a working visit in Bavaria. The Romanian president reviewed the lines of action undertaken throughout the period Romania held the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union, highlighting that our country's priority had been that of making sure that together it contributed to "a European project more powerful, more united and closer to the citizens, without divisions, concentric circles or multiple development speeds." When recalling the 2019 Summit in Sibiu, President Iohannis said the "Spirit in Sibiu" defines today the common wish of the European leaders and of the Member States to work together for a Europe united in peace and democracy - a single Europe, from East to West, from North to South, led by its values and liberties, within and beyond its borders. He thinks the ten commitments assumed in the Declaration of Sibiu represent an importance heritage built throughout Romania's Presidency of the Council of the European Union and a "foundation" for what we have to do today. Through the development of cooperation between the various German lands and the Romanian authorities, contribution can be brought at strengthening this cohesion, at building a Europe closer to its citizens, said Klaus Iohannis, who pleaded for "unity, cohesion, solidarity", also efforts should focus in the upcoming period on promoting inclusive and sustainable economic growth, by adopting a European budget adapted to the Union's ambitions, with substantial allocations for the European Union's traditional policies (the Cohesion Policy and the Common Agricultural Policy) but which will concurrently provide adequate response to the new challenges at the Union's level. "The future's Union is no longer the Union we knew 7 years ago, eroded by the economic and financial crisis, when we agreed upon a realistic budget for the respective moment. The European Union we would like to project is an ambitious Union, with major goals - related to climate, migration, digitisation, enhanced competitiveness globally through education, research, an enhanced role on the international stage. (...) At he same time, supporting research, innovation and digitisation at European level is important for us as well. Romanian expertise in these areas is relevant and can be successfully capitalised on. We however deem necessary a greater openness of the consortia in research projects so as to overcome the divide still persistent in many of these between the East and the West," Klaus Iohannis affirmed. The Romania leader voiced his disappointment with the result of the negotiations concerning the Package on the European Union road transport (the Mobility Package I), stating that "some of the pending provisions not only affect the fundamental liberties of people's movement and the provision of services in the European Union, but also undermine the capacity of the member states to reach the assumed climate targets." According to Klaus Iohannis, Romania will continue " to actively plead for the opening of the accession negotiations with Albania and the North Republic of Macedonia, as soon as possible, spirited by the firm conviction of the strategic value, but also democratic value, profoundly transformative, of the enlargement process in the region." Klaus Iohannis also talked about the need for the Romania-German cooperation to be pursued as "From an economic standpoint, the fact Germany is our country's first trading partner, at the same time being the third investor on the Romanian market, encourages us to maintain the same special attention for cooperation in this field, all the more so as over 300,000 Romanians have found jobs due to German investments in Romania. (...) The Romanians who have settled in time in Germany and the German minority in Romania stand for true bridges within our relations and the main starting point for our bilateral dialogue," President Iohannis went on to say.AGERPRES(RO - editor: Florin Marin; EN - author: Simona Iacob, editor: Maria Voican)