Romanian PM Ciucǎ in Brussels

Romania's Schengen accession was one of the central topics in the Romanian PM Nicolae Ciucă's visit to Brussels

Roxana Vasile, 27.10.2022, 14:00

Romania’s accession to the passport-free travel area
was the central topic of the talks that Romania’s PM Nicolae Ciucă had in
Brussels on Wednesday with high-ranking EU and Belgian officials.

In fact, the theme was approached in all the
discussions with the president of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola, the
European Commission chief Ursula von de Leyen, and with Belgium’s PM Alexander
De Croo.

In his meeting with the president of the European
Commission, PM Ciucă highlighted the very good conclusions of the recent EU
assessment mission, which in his opinion confirms that Romania is prepared to
join Schengen.

Alexander De Croo praised the efforts of the Romanian
authorities and said one last step needed to be taken, an important one for all
citizens. As for Nicolae Ciucă, he pointed out that Romania took all the
necessary measures to reach its goal. He emphasised that Romania made efforts
to meet all technical requirements and standards and that naturally, if
necessary, the Romanian authorities were open to clarifying any points based on
the Commission’s existing approaches and bilaterally, with any EU member
country interested in finding out more than the Commission’s report mentions.

At the NATO headquarters, PM Ciucă had talks with the
Alliance’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg. The latter reiterated that
Romania was a valuable Ally, which made important contributions to NATO’s
security, and that NATO is ready to protect both Romania, and all its other
members, in the context of the recent developments in Ukraine, whereby Russia
has turned the Black Sea region into a war zone. Jens
Stoltenberg also praised Romania’s efforts to support the French-led NATO
battle group in Romania, which comprises troops from the Netherlands and
Belgium as well.

Romania will continue to make active and responsible
contributions to promoting Euro-Atlantic security and stability, and the
consolidation of NATO’s deterrence and defence posture is essential, PM Nicolae
Ciucă said in his turn. Given the dynamic nature of these developments and
Russia’s unpredictability, he went on to say, NATO needs to closely monitor the
situation at the Black Sea. This war has unfortunately highlighted what Romania
has been arguing for a long time, namely the strategic relevance of the Black
Sea to NATO, to the Alliance’s major security interests.

Apart from Schengen-related matters and the EU’s
response to Russia’s military aggression in Ukraine, PM Nicolae Ciucă’s talks
with Brussels officials also tackled the strengthening of the Union’s
neighbourhood policies and the energy security. (AMP)