Romania and the Central European Initiative

Romanian PM Viorica Dancila has travelled to Croatia to meet with the country's officials

Corina Cristea, 04.12.2018, 13:02

In the context
of Romania’s taking over the EU Council presidency starting January 1st
2019, the country’s PM Viorica Dancila travelled to Zagreb on Monday to discuss
with the Croatian authorities and to participate in the Central-European Initiative
summit (CEI). Dancila held talks with her Croatian counterpart, Andrej Plenkovic
that focused on the economic and commercial ties between the two countries and
on the challenges facing Romania at the helm of the EU Council. Talking about
challenges, PM Dancila said:

The
challenges ahead are related to Brexit and the future of the EU after Britain
leaves the bloc. The summit in Sibiu, scheduled for May 9, 2019, will be very
important in this respect. We have also discussed about topics of common
interest, about the similar approach that we must have in relation to
traditional policies at EU level, that is the cohesion policy and the common
agricultural policy, but also about challenges, such as migration, terrorism,
defense and of course Schengen, a topic of interest for both countries.

PM Dancila also
took part in the works of the Central-European Initiative summit that marked
the end of Croatia’s one-year term at the helm of this regional cooperation
forum. The main theme of the meeting was
regional cooperation with an emphasis on promoting democratic values and
practices, good neighborliness and regional stability. Romania is close to
taking over, for the first time, the EU Council Presidency, a context in which
further enlargement, to include Western Balkan countries, will be a priority,
PM Dancila said.

The Romanian official also said that our country is further
committed to offering political support and technical assistance to the
countries in the region, in order for them to carry out reforms with a view to
joining the European and Euro-Atlantic structures. Dancila has pointed out the
importance of the collaboration accords in place, that are vital for stability
in the area, the promotion of relations of good neighborliness, of interconnectivity
and economic cooperation, and highlighted the importance of the
Central-European Initiative in reaching these goals, through the transfer of
expertise in key-sectors such anti-corruption efforts, good governance,
bridging development gaps, competitiveness and innovation. PM Dancila also
voiced support for the development of regional cooperation in this format, and
also for the consolidation of the CEI effectiveness, by focusing on projects
with an economic and social impact in the region. Italy has taken over the
presidency of the Central-European Initiative from Croatia.

(Translated by E. Enache)