Poland's President, welcomed at Cotroceni Presidential Palace

President Klaus Iohannis welcomed at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace on Monday his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda, who is paying an official visit to Romania.

The military honour reception was carried out on the ceremony plateau.

The head of state delegation is made of Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu, Defence Minister Nicolae Ciuca, presidential advisers Ion Oprisor, Leonard Orban, Diana Loreta Paun, Daniela Barsan.

The two presidents will have head-to-head and official talks and will hold a joint press conference.

Klaus Iohannis and Andrzej Duda are hosting on Monday afternoon the Bucharest Nine Summit (B9), with US President Joe Biden also attending by videoconference.

The visit of the Polish President takes place in the context of celebrating the 100th anniversary since the conclusion of the Defensive Alliance Convention between the Kingdom of Romania and the Polish Republic, signed on March 3, 1921, a symbolic moment in the bilateral relation.

According to the Presidential Administration, talks between the two officials will focus on ways to develop and deepen the bilateral strategic partnership, and for that purpose regional as well as international security co-operation will be examined.

Enhanced attention is expected to be paid to the security dimension, which has increased substantially in relevance in recent years, with the dialogue on this issue generating mutual benefits for both countries, for our region and for NATO. The significant results of bilateral defence co-operation under the Bucharest Nine (B9) format and inside NATO are to be reviewed.

The prospects for strengthening economic co-operation between the two countries will also be addressed, given that Poland is one of Romania's most important trading partners, with trade exceeding seven billion euros in 2020, despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Stimulating mutual investment and deepening sectoral co-operation will also be considered.

From the perspective of the Three Seas Initiative, the implementation of strategic regional interconnection projects will be discussed, with emphasis on projects jointly promoted by Romania and Poland connecting the North and South of the region, namely Rail2Sea and Via Carpathia.

Regarding the relations with the European Union's Eastern Neighbourhood, regional security developments will be addressed, as well as boosting and substantiating the Eastern Partnership in preparation for this year's summit.

Duda's Monday's schedule of his visit to Bucharest also includes official talks with President of the Romanian Senate Anca Dragu and Speaker of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies Ludovic Orban, as well as a working lunch with Prime Minister Florin Citu.

On Tuesday, May 11, the two heads of state will participate in a day of the distinguished visitors of the military exercise "Justice Sword 21," taking place at the Smardan shooting range in which Poland participates with the forces and hardware deployed to Romania under NATO's forward presence on the Eastern Flank, from the NATO Multinational Brigade in Craiova.

The exercise is designed to test the capacity of the participating bodies in executing actions and measures established by the planning documents and the way of achieving Romania's support for the troops and equipment transiting the national territory.