Romania’s Foreign Minister Luminita Odobescu has attended in Brussels a ministerial summit meeting of the EU-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), where she welcomed the opportunity to promote the current relationship between the two regions to strategic partnership, saying that Romania is willing to continue to be dynamically and constructively involved in advancing joint initiatives.

The summiteers highlighted the historical importance of the meeting in a bi-regional format from a political, economic and security perspective. Also, they said that holding such a large-scale event is proof of the solidity of the special partnership relations between the two regions and of the high degree of involvement of member states in the process of strengthening cooperation in areas of shared interest, Romania’s Foreign Ministry (MAE) reported in a press statement on Wednesday.

The ministers then engaged in an in-depth dialogue on the current security challenges and, implicitly, on ways to achieve regional stability. They underscored the need for coordinated involvement in the de-escalation efforts in the Middle East.

Odobescu welcomed the opportunity to promote the current relationship between the two regions to strategic partnership, saying that Romania is ready to continue to be involved dynamically and constructively in advancing joint initiatives.

She also highlighted the value of coordinating efforts to promote dialogue and facilitate negotiations, in parallel with providing humanitarian assistance and support to the civilian population in the areas affected by crises.

She pointed to Romania’s contribution to humanitarian efforts for the population of Gaza and Lebanon. In a conversation on regional and international affairs, she said that the main security threat to Romania is Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and commended the member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council for promoting respect for the rules-based international order.

AGERPRES