Bogdan Aurescu, to attend Gymnich informal meeting of ForMins in EU member states

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bogdan Aurescu, is taking part on Wednesday and Thursday, in the informal meeting of the heads of diplomacy from the member states of the European Union (the Gymnich format), which is taking place in Lisbon, within the Portuguese Presidency of of the Council of the European Union, agerpres reports.

According to a press release sent by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) to AGERRPES, the agenda features the prolonged conflicts from the Eastern Vicinity (a topic introduced at Romania's proposal), the EU-Africa relations and the strategic vision of the EU for the Indo-Pacific region. Furthermore, the European ministers will have an informal luncheon, with Jordanian Hashemite Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi as their guest.

The debates regarding the prolonged conflicts in the Eastern Vicinity is held at Romania's initiative, as a result of the letter addressed by Minister Bogdan Aurescu, supported by 10 counterparts from EU member states - Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, in November last year, to the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy..

"It is for the first time when such a topic is included on the CAE agenda, at Romania's initiative. The European ministers will evaluate the action lines which could be decided and applied in order to increase the EU commitment and its efficiency, namely the concrete tools that can be used by the EU in order to solve prolonged/frozen conflicts, from the extended area of the Black Sea region. Minister Bogdan Aurescu will highlight that these conflicts represent a major threat to the stability and the security of the immediate vicinity of the Union, but also for the European continent and Euro-Atlantic security as a whole, so that the EU needs to get involved more and more efficiently in sustainably solving these issues, with the larger objective of consolidating the resilience of the partners in the Eastern Partnership. In this sense, Bogdan Aurescu will present a series of concrete proposals to enable an integrated and coherent approach to solving these conflicts, in accordance with international law and in close coordination with all relevant actors (OSCE, UN, like-minded international partners, especially the USA)," the press release specifies.

According to MAE, discussions regarding the EU-Africa relations will target the stage of the relationship and the perspectives of organizing the 6th Summit with the African Union, planned for next year's first semester, as well as ways of deepening the political and economical partnership, based on joint interests, values and actions. Minister Bogdan Aurescu will express support for these objectives, based on the EU strategy regarding the diversification of cooperation with Africa since March 2020 and will emphasize aspects related to the security of the continent, economic and commercial cooperation, the support given for combating the consequences generated by COVID-19 pandemic, but also for consolidating interpersonal contacts.

During the meeting there will be debates on the EU's strategic vision for the Indo-Pacific region. On April 19, the Council Conclusions on the EU Strategy for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific were adopted. According to MAE, the talks will focus on an exchange of views in the perspective of joint communication of the High Representative and the European Commission on the topic of cooperation within the Indo-Pacific region, scheduled for publication in September 2021. Minister Aurescu will support the consolidation of the political dimension of the EU approach and will show that Romania is interested in contributing in its implementation in areas such as digital connectivity, especially cybersecurity, and the promotion of democracy and the strengthening of the rule of law, including from the perspective that our country is currently holding the Presidency of the Community of Democracies, MAE specifies.

On the occasion of the informal luncheon, whose guest will by the Jordanian Minister of Foreign Affairs, there will be an exchange of views on recent developments in the Middle East, and also talks regarding the state of EU-Jordan relations. On this occasion, the Romanian Minister will reiterate our country's support for the aspirations of the Hashemite Kingdom of having tighter relations with the EU and will highlight the development opportunities of the EU - Jordan relations, offered by the New Agenda of the EU for the Mediterranean region.