According to Romania’s Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca, the Eastern Partnership states, „which the Russian aggression have exposed to existential threats,” have to be supported even more intensively on their European journey, just as Romania does to Moldova, according to Agerpres.

„In the region adjacent to the Black Sea, the states of the Eastern Partnership, which Russian aggression has exposed to existential threats, have to be supported even more intensively on their European journey. The Eastern Partnership should support the advancement of the European integration process. The European Union can consolidate political influence, can advance projects for stability and security in the region, projects in support of reforms in a European sense, which directly and actually support the life and well-being of the citizens of these states. It is a kind of effort that can be exemplified by Romania’s action and the action of other member states in supporting perhaps the most vulnerable of the Eastern partners, Moldova, most recently by establishing the support platform for it,” Ciuca told the 6th edition of the Black Sea and Balkans Security Forum on Friday.

He also mentioned the decision of the EU leaders this March at an informal summit in Versailles to ask the European Commission to present its opinion on the accession applications of Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia.

„The decisions of the European Union and the allies in support of the Eastern partners can stimulate a beneficial competition, a refocusing of efforts on the dimension of the European integration of the Western Balkans. The quick and visionary decision from Versailles for Kyiv, Chisinau and Tbilisi reawakened the European desire of the aspiring states from this area. The strategic importance of the enlargement policy is thus reconfirmed. The current crisis is really reuniting Romania’s geographical and geostrategic regions, that of the eastern neighborhood and that of the Balkans, on a European front. The EU’s recent options regarding the future of the Western Balkans confirms that. Romania’s support for the European future of the aspiring member states was and remains principled and firm.”

According to Ciuca, the crisis in Ukraine „may be the premise for the establishment of a geopolitical consolidation front embracing Euro-Atlantic values on the southern flank of European Russia.”

„The Western Balkans are an area of strategic importance where political and security developments have direct implications for the security and prosperity of the whole of Europe. We have reason to hope that we are witnessing a political revitalisation of the area in a European sense. The crisis in Ukraine may be the premise for the establishment a front of geopolitical consolidation embracing the Euro-Atlantic values on the southern flank of European Russia. Beyond the issue of enlargement, it can be the catalyst for the European Union in approaching its Eastern and the Southern neighbourhoods, its two great neighbourhoods. The common interests reconfirmed by the new threats also determine the need to respond to the challenges generated by the current crises: energy security, food security, security of supply chains, stabilisation, migration,” added Ciuca.

Agerpres