Meeting of ForMins of EU MS to take place in Brussels

Minister Bogdan Aurescu will participate, on Monday, in the meeting of the foreign ministers of the EU member states, which will take place in Brussels, among the topics of discussion being the EU strategy for distributing vaccines to third countries, the Navalny case, prospects for strengthening Transatlantic relations, recent developments in relations with Turkey, the Gulf region, Hong Kong, Venezuela, the EU-Egypt relationship and others. Minister Bogdan Aurescu will also inform his European colleagues about the developments regarding the establishment and hosting by Romania of the Euro-Atlantic Centre for Resilience (E-ARC). The agenda of the Brussels meeting includes a discussion on climate and energy diplomacy, as well as an informal exchange of views with Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, to be organized as a videoconference, according to a MAE (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) press release issued on Sunday. European ministers will address, at an informal breakfast, EU-UK relations in areas related to foreign policy and security, as the state has left the EU since 1 January 2021. Regarding the EU strategy on the distribution of vaccines to third countries, according to the MAE, Minister Bogdan Aurescu will reiterate Romania's support for creating a Union-level mechanism to meet the needs of neighbouring states in combating the COVID-19 pandemic. In the case of Navalny, the Romanian Minister will show that the arrest of the leader of the Russian opposition confirms the general worsening of the human rights situation in Russia and the restriction of the NGOs' space for action. The Romanian official will support the need to maintain a unitary, transparent and coordinated approach in any approach at EU level of involvement in dialogue with the Russian authorities. Regarding Transatlantic relations, Minister Bogdan Aurescu will highlight the vital importance of the Transatlantic relation, including in terms of common security values and objectives. It will emphasize, in this regard, the importance of active and substantial involvement of the Union in the revitalization of the EU-US dialogue, in line with the recent Conclusions of the European Council and the Foreign Affairs Council. The Romanian official will also show that it is necessary for the ambitious agenda of the Union to lead quickly to the start of a new stage in the EU-US relationship, based on a deep coordination with the new Washington Administration, underlines the MAE. AGERPRES (RO - author: Daniel Florea, editor: Florin Marin, EN - editor: Cristina Zaharia)