The meeting of EU Foreign Ministers

Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu attended the meeting of EU Foreign Ministers in Brussels.

Corina Cristea, 20.04.2021, 14:00

EU Foreign Ministers convened in
videoconference format to discuss, among other things, the latest tensions in
Russia and the Czech Republic, as well as the situation of Russian opposition
leader Alexei Navalnyi, who is imprisoned in Russia. The European Commission is
fully solidary with the Czech Republic on the expulsion of Russian diplomats, a
Commission spokesman said during a briefing. Prague has accused Moscow of involvement
in a 2014 explosion at a weapons depot on its territory, and on Saturday
expelled 18 employees of the Russian Embassy, accused of espionage in this case.
Additionally, the Czech authorities said the official inquiry has established a
link between the Russian intelligence and the explosion that killed two Czech
nationals.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has labeled the Czech authorities’
decision as unprecedented, considering Prague’s allegations as ungrounded and peculiar,
and in response has declared 20 employees of the Czech Embassy in Moscow personae
non grata. EU Foreign Ministers also discussed the case of Alexei Navalnyi,
who for the last three weeks has been on hunger strike in prison, and whose
health has deteriorated significantly in the absence of medical care. Attending
the meeting, Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu supported the involvement of the Red
Cross in this case. Navalny has in the meantime been transferred to a hospital
for inmates. In the context of Russia’s increasingly destabilizing actions in
the Eastern Vicinity as well as against Member States, Minister Aurescu also highlighted
the need for a strategic approach to EU-Russia relations.

Bogdan Aurescu has
joined the chorus of EU Foreign Ministers who’ve expressed concern over Russia’s
repeated violations of the ceasefire agreement and the increased number of
troops in Eastern Ukraine and Crimea, as well as with Russia’s plans to
restrict navigation on certain sections of the Black Sea. The Romanian official expressed Romania’s support
for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty and for the country’s European
integration efforts and efforts to expand the association and economic
integration processes, highlighting the EU’s constant and firm support for Kiev’s
commitment to reforms, a key prerequisite for the consolidation of the rule of
law, democracy and resilience in this country. Finally, Minister Aurescu
underscored the need for a strategic vision on the Eastern Partnership and an ambitious
post-2020 agenda, which should include the consolidation of security
cooperation with partner states, also recalling that Romania has called for a
more active EU role in extended conflicts in the Black Sea region. (V.P.)