Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu met on Saturday at the Official Lounge of Henri Coanda Airport with Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of the French Republic Catherine Colonna, on the occasion of the technical stopover in Bucharest of President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron, on his return from his visit to the People’s Republic of China, write Agerpres.

According to a press release of the Romanian Foreign Affairs Ministry (MAE), during the talks the French Minister of Foreign Affairs presented in detail to his Romanian counterpart Bogdan Aurescu the results of the Franco-Chinese talks during the French President’s visit to China, with emphasis on China’s position on Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.

„In this framework, Minister Bogdan Aurescu stressed the importance of the international community’s calls for Beijing to conduct itself responsibly, in line with its status as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, towards Russia’s war against Ukraine, starting from the obvious differentiation between Ukraine’s status as a victim of aggression and Russia’s as an aggressor state, and that the People’s Republic of China should not deliver arms and ammunition to Russia,” the MAE pointed out.

Ministers Aurescu and Colonna also discussed the security situation caused by Russian aggression and, in this context, the preparation of the Allied Summit in Vilnius in July 2023.

„Thus, Minister Aurescu stressed – and his French counterpart shared this assessment – the concrete importance for the strengthening of the Eastern Flank of the raising to brigade level of the NATO Battle Group in Romania, led by France, and the pre-positioning of military equipment, in accordance with the decisions of the Madrid Summit of 2022 on strengthening the deterrence and defence posture on the Flank.

The Romanian Foreign Minister reiterated Romania’s special appreciation for the role played by France, as a strong strategic partner of our country, in leading the Romanian Battle Group and for Romania’s security,” the source said.

Bogdan Aurescu also presented the objectives of the Black Sea Security Conference of the International Crimean Platform, which he will host in Bucharest on April 13, together with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba and the defence ministers of the two countries.

Romania’s accession to the Schengen area also played an important role in the discussions, with Minister Aurescu presenting in detail the stage of Romania’s efforts to this end, assessing the prospects for the file’s development and thanking France for its active support.

„Minister Colonna reiterated France’s firm support for this objective and assured that the French side will continue to be very active at European level, especially in Austria,” the press release added.

The two ministers discussed the joint measures of the two countries to support the Republic of Moldova, the state „most affected,” after Ukraine, by the effects of Russian aggression against Ukraine, with a focus on strengthening its resilience, defence capacity and support for its European course.

The two ministers also discussed in detail the preparation of the European Political Community Summit that Chisinau will host on June 1, as well as the fourth ministerial meeting of the Support Platform for the Republic of Moldova, which will take place in Chisinau this autumn, agreeing on the particular added value of this initiative launched in 2022 and co-chaired by Minister Bogdan Aurescu and his French and German counterparts.