ForMin Aurescu, ForMin Di Maio to hold political talks

Romania's Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu will have today a round of political consultations with visiting Italy's Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation Luigi Di Maio, Agerpres reports.

The visit to Bucharest of the head of the Italian diplomacy takes place amid Russia's illegal military aggression against Ukraine and Italy's interest in supporting efforts to manage the Ukrainian refugee crisis, according to the Romanian Foreign Ministry (MAE).

The Aurescu-Di Maio meeting will thus focus on ways to manage the multiple effects of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, including a serious humanitarian crisis generated by Russia's illegal military intervention and its impact on regional, European and Euro-Atlantic security.

The talks will also address efforts to end the conflict, sanctions against the Russian Federation and measures to strengthen NATO's eastern flank. They will also look at ways to streamline support for refugees and those affected by the war in Ukraine, as Italy was the first EU member state to use a logistics hub for the storage and distribution of international humanitarian assistance in Suceava, from March 9, 2022.

The meeting will also discuss ways to develop and deepen the relationship of the consolidated strategic partnership between the two countries, as part of the broad Romanian-Italian political dialogue. It will also touch on bilateral and sectoral economic co-operation, as Italy is Romania's second largest trading partner, according to MAE.

Aurescu and his counterpart will also have an exchange of views on a number of important European issues to Romania and Italy.

At the end of the consultations, Aurescu and Minister Di Maio will hold a joint news conference.