New lines of diplomatic action
Bucharest is playing host to the annual meeting of Romanian diplomacy
Bogdan Matei, 08.09.2020, 14:00
Held every year in early September, the annual meeting of Romanian
diplomacy this year is being held with the strict observance of
pandemic-related regulations and is unfolding via videoconference. Opening the
event, President Klaus Iohannis recalled the main pillars of Romanian
diplomacy: boosting Romania’s role at EU and NATO levels and consolidating and
expanding the Strategic Partnership with the United States. Romanian diplomacy
must make efforts to further implement these points, the president said. In
turn, Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu announced the Ministry is working on a
set of new lines of diplomatic action, adapted to the effects of COVID-19. The
task has been ongoing for the last three months and will result in strategies
adapted to the current international context. The ongoing coronacrisis is
amplifying the major process in international relations, which is why Romanian
diplomacy has to constantly adapt. The meeting is aimed at tackling the main
tendencies created or accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic at global and
European level and pave the way for the creation of a more effective early
prevention mechanism for crisis situations. Bogdan Aurescu:
Adapting doesn’t entail a fundamental change in the basis of our
foreign policies, namely increasing our profile and role at the level of the EU
and NATO and developing and expanding our Strategic Partnership with the United
States, as well as supporting multilateralism, international law and democratic
values
Also attending the event, Liberal Prime Minister Ludovic Orban
insisted on the essential requirements Romania must comply with in order to
remain predictable in its foreign dealings. Referring to the often haphazard
foreign policy initiatives of previous left-wing Governments, the Prime
Minister said:
The time of diplomatic ventures observing political party
interests is now past. The time of stirring tension and wars with paper
soldiers is also long gone. Romania now has a Government that is deeply
committed to upholding democracy and all international commitments, first and
foremost to our strategic allies, the United States of America, the European
Union, NATO and all our other partners.
Also worth mentioning is that the guest list this year includes
the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borell, and the NATO
Deputy Secretary General, Mircea Geoana, himself a foreign minister.
(Translated by V. Palcu)
