Minister of Foreign Affairs Bogdan Aurescu had a telephone conversation, on Wednesday, with his Polish counterpart, Zbigniew Rau, on bilateral relations, with the head of the Romanian diplomacy conveying thanks, at the same time, for Poland’s „firm” and „active” support for Romania’s accession to the Schengen area, according to a press release sent by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) to Agerpres.

The two officials emphasized the excellent nature of the strategic partnership relations between the two states, especially on the political and security dimensions.

The two ministers also discussed the organization, in the first part of 2023, of the second joint meeting of the Governments of Romania and Poland, after the one in Warsaw, in March last year.

Minister Aurescu thanked Poland for its „firm” and „active” support for Romania’s accession to the Schengen area.

He also showed that Romania would like to intensify the bilateral political dialogue on all components, as well as in the existing trilateral consultation formats, including the Trilateral Romania – Poland – Turkey, reads the MAE release.

In his turn, minister Zbigniew Rau reiterated Poland’s „strong” and „active” support for the goal of Romania’s accession to Schengen as soon as possible, highlighting that his country will continue to support these efforts, including in the dialogue with member states.

The Polish Foreign Minister expressed hope for a positive development on this file, „considering that it is fair from all points of view for Romania to join the Schengen area as soon as possible”.

The two officials also had an exchange of views regarding the current security agenda, in the context of the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine.

„In view of the NATO Summit that will be hosted by Lithuania in Vilnius in 2023, as well as the meeting of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs in April 2023, the two ministers discussed the perspectives of cooperation within the Bucharest 9 Format, highlighting the special added value of the format, as well as the importance of maintaining the pace of consultations and cooperation in this format for the promotion of common priorities,” MAE also shows.

Agerpres