President Klaus Iohannis attending European Council meeting in Brussels on Thursday and Friday

According to the Presidential Administration, the main topics on the agenda of the meeting are European coordination in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the EU digital agenda, the recent rise in energy prices, migration, European trade policy and foreign relations, with a focus on the preparation of the EU-Asia Summit (ASEM), the Eastern Partnership Summit, as well as the COP 26 meetings on climate change and the COP 15 on biodiversity, agerpres reports.

In preparation for the meeting, President Iohannis attended a videoconference meeting on Monday with European Council President Charles Michel, his Lithuanian counterpart and prime ministers in Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia.

After this videoconference, the Presidential Administration reported that the head of state highlighted the crisis in Romania regarding the incidence of COVID-19 cases, showing that the low vaccination rate contributed significantly to this situation. He mentioned that Romania had activated the European Civil Protection Mechanism and thanked the member states that have already offered support to Romania.

As to the energy situation, the President stressed that the significant increase in energy prices is a major concern for Romania, given the impact it has on citizens, businesses and, in particular, on vulnerable consumers.

The head of state stressed the need to quickly identify efficient solutions in the short term, because the current energy crisis will have serious effects in all EU countries, with profound socio-economic impact, both in household consumers, population and economies in general, affecting the competitiveness of industries. The President pointed out that a medium- and long-term approach was also needed to address the structural problems of the energy sector, but also of the common market in the field of energy.

In the perspective of the Eastern Partnership Summit in Brussels in December, Iohannis emphasized the need to support, through concrete measures, the three partner countries that want to strengthen relations with the EU. In the context of the current energy crisis, the head of state requested the support for the Republic of Moldova for the supply of natural gas and electricity.