On Friday, President Klaus Iohannis participated in the informal meeting of the European Council in Prague. He expressed Romania’s openness to Ukraine’s reconstruction process, highlighting the need for good coordination at a European level for the efficient management of this process, reports ACTMedia.
Iohannis reiterated Romania’s position regarding the independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine and the continuation of our country’s constant support, on multiple levels, including in preparation for winter, in the context of new escalations generated by the Russian Federation.
The main topics of European Council meeting was that of the situation in Ukraine, on all dimensions, developments in the field of energy (impact of high prices and efforts for security of supply) as well as the economic situation at the European level.
Regarding the situation in Ukraine, European leaders firmly rejected and unequivocally condemned the illegal annexation by the Russian Federation of the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporozhye and Kherson from Ukraine, following fake referendums. The EU leaders reaffirmed the decision to continue to provide support to Ukraine as long as it will be necessary, from a financial, political, military, humanitarian point of view, including in terms of preparing for winter.
The President of Romania pleaded for „maintaining a strong, prompt and clear response from the Union to the aggression of the Russian Federation and firmly rejected the action of illegal annexation of the four regions of Ukraine.” He welcomed the adoption of a new set of restrictive measures, demonstrating that it is necessary to maintain high pressure on the Russian Federation, highlighting, at the same time, the importance of transatlantic coordination and with other international partners.
He also emphasized a concern about the effects of the war on other partners in the region, stressing the need to continue supporting the Republic of Moldova, an extremely vulnerable state in the face of these developments.
Regarding food security, the European Union will continue to facilitate the export of agricultural products from Ukraine, European leaders requesting the extension of the Black Sea Grains Initiative, promoted by the UN Secretary General. As to energy security, the discussions of the European leaders focused, in particular, on the impact of high energy prices on the population and industry and the need for a coordinated European response to address this situation.
European leaders also condemned the recent acts of sabotage in the Baltic Sea regarding the North Stream I and II pipelines and agreed to intensify cooperation to protect critical European infrastructure.
The President of Romania pleaded for the continuation of coordination at the EU level, in order to overcome the common challenges in this field, welcoming the measures adopted so far, but emphasizing that additional actions are needed, mainly focused on the sustainable reduction of energy prices.
In the context of maintaining the high level of energy prices, a constant concern for our country, Klaus Iohannis recalled the need to adopt measures to ensure the decoupling of the price of electricity from the price of natural gas. he pleaded for the need to further diversify the supply of natural gas from multiple and reliable sources, the use of indigenous resources, the development of infrastructure projects and the consolidation of interconnections, welcoming in this context the recent operationalization of the interconnector between Greece and Bulgaria.
Iohannis reiterated the fact that the measures taken at the European level must also take into account the energy security of the Republic of Moldova, which needs immediate support in view of the cold season.
Regarding the economic situation, the debates of the leaders of the European Union focused on the high prices for households and businesses that led to significant levels of inflation in the member states, measures to support economic growth and jobs, as well as preserving the integrity of the Single Market.
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