Minister of Foreign Affairs Bogdan Aurescu had a bilateral meeting with his counterpart of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Wopke Bastiaan Hoekstra, on Thursday, in central Sibiu, with the discussion agenda including the topic of Romania’s accession to the Schengen area as a matter of priority and the ongoing steps to advance this important file, informs a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) sent to Agerpres on Friday.

According to the press release, Aurescu thanked his Dutch counterpart for the Kingdom of the Netherlands’ support in favor of Romania and reiterated that our country’s accession „will contribute to strengthening the security of the entire EU and will give credibility to the Union”. In his turn, minister Hoekstra reiterated the active support of the Netherlands for Romania’s accession, deemed prepared in this regard.

Minister Aurescu also emphasized Romania’s openness to working together with all European partners to find effective solutions to the problem of illegal migration, „even if Romania does not accept artificial connections between this matter and accession to the Schengen area”. The Dutch Foreign minister expressed appreciation for Romania’s position and for the correct way in which our country applies the Dublin Regulation – a topic of interest for his country. The two ministers agreed to cooperate closely on the subject of solutions at the European level regarding the more efficient management of the issue of illegal migration, including from the perspective of its external dimension in the relationship with third countries – sources of this type of migration.

At the same time, minister Wopke Hoekstra reconfirmed the Netherlands’ commitment in strengthening the allied posture of deterrence and defense on NATO’s Eastern Flank, in the context of Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, by participating with troops in the NATO Battle Group in Romania.

The two ministers discussed the state and prospects of Romanian-Dutch bilateral relations, marked by a dynamic and substantial dialogue at the political level and a solid economic component, the Netherlands being the first foreign investor in Romania, with investments of approximately 9 billion euros in our country’s economy, mentions the MAE.

The meeting took place in the context of the visit of the Dutch official to Romania for political consultations in a trilateral format Romania – Holland – France in Bucharest, together with the French Foreign minister Catherine Colonna, preceded by a joint visit of the three ministers to the French and Dutch troops stationed in the nearby county of Brasov’s Cincu base, within the NATO Battle Group in Romania.

Agerpres