MAI delegation attends JHA Council meeting and Eastern Partnership ministerial meeting in Innsbruck

A delegation of the Interior Affairs Ministry (MAI) led by Secretary of State Colonel Gheorghe Nucu Marin is attending these days an informal meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council (JHA), but also an Eastern Partnership ministerial meeting.

According to a release of the MAI sent to AGERPRES, on Thursday, a session of home affairs was carried out, within which there were tackled aspects related to border protection at European level - the crisis-resistant EU asylum policy and police cooperation: human trafficking and the community policing concept.

"Romania underscored the fact that ensuring the security of external borders represents one of the most important guarantees for the security of the European Union. Furthermore, Romania also expressed its appreciation regarding the consistent reflection of the external dimension of migration in the latest decisions adopted by the European Council, especially regarding the need to take action in order to prevent massive arrivals of migrants and strengthen cooperation with their countries of origin and transit. Also emphasised was the importance of the role of police cooperation in the home affairs area, as well as the usefulness of developing a concept on community policing models and methods, creating a forum dedicated to this issue, and involving CEPOL [the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training] in training activities in the area," the MAI release informs.

The working lunch of interior ministers tackled the promotion of European values and measures against anti-Semitism and the protection of Jewish communities and institutions in Europe.

"On the sidelines of the JHA Council, on Friday a a joint breakfast of the Justice and Home Affairs Ministers of the Eastern Partnership states will be held to address the issue of "Promoting the rule of law and strengthening integrity: Combating corruption at the level of judicial authorities and in the security area", the quoted source mentions.

Moreover, the Romanian delegation will hold talks with the European partners in the context of taking over the presidency of the Council of the European Union on 1 January 2019.

The Eastern Partnership is an initiative of the European External Action Service of the EU, meant to establish the basis of cooperation in key-areas such as trade, economic strategies, free movement of persons and goods between EU member states and Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, countries in the neighborhood of the Union.