Foreign Policy Opinion

The relations with Turkey as an Allied and partner country, and the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, remain major priorities for Bucharest's foreign policy

Bogdan Matei, 05.02.2024, 14:00

Sharing
borders with the Black Sea and allied as NATO member states for 2 decades,
Romania and Turkey are also tied by a strategic partnership which they have
decided to extend. Turkey’s foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, has recently had
talks in Bucharest with Romania’s diplomacy chief Luminiţa Odobescu, and
announced that a high-level Council for strategic cooperation would be
established to this end.

The
defence cooperation is an important component of the two countries’ bilateral
relations, the Turkish official pointed out. A critical topic approached during
the recent talks was the current security context and ways for the two
countries to help consolidate and enhance security at the Black Sea, the Romanian
foreign minister said in her turn. She thanked Turkey for its participation in
the NATO air policing missions in Romania, which contributes to strengthening
the Allied defence and deterrence posture on the eastern flank.

Luminița
Odobescu also mentioned the recent decision to set up the Romania-Turkey-Bulgaria
Naval Group tasked with clearing the mines floating in the Black Sea, which is
a concrete example of the way in which the three countries are able to work
together in the region.

Consolidating
the economic cooperation between Turkey and Romania was also on the agenda of
the meeting. Bilateral trade amounted to USD 9.4 bln in the first 11 months of
last year, and is expected to reach USD 15 bln in 2025.

The
two officials also discussed the situation in the Middle East. The Turkish
foreign minister argued that 2 million people are being bombed by Israel in
Gaza and are struggling with hunger and infectious diseases. In turn, Luminiţa Odobescu said
close coordination of international efforts is necessary in order to achieve
sustainable peace in the Middle East. She argued that the needs of Palestinian
civilians remain a priority for Romania, even though, like many other partners,
Romania suspended its financial contribution to the UN agency for Palestinian
refugees after some of the agency’s employees were found to have been involved
in the Hamas terror attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

A
major concern for the Romanian diplomacy is also the war in neighbouring
Ukraine, which was invaded by the Russian army nearly 2 years ago. Luminița
Odobescu emphasised that the situation in Ukraine is in fact a priority for the
EU as well, and pleaded for continued European support to Kyiv. Since the start
of the war, more than 7 million Ukrainian nationals have transited Romania to
seek shelter, and the Romanian port of Constanța has become a vital hub for
Ukraine’s grain exports. (AMP)