Minister of Foreign Affairs Bogdan Aurescu announced on Monday that he will ask for a separate item on the agenda of next month’s Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) to analyse the situation in the Republic of Moldova, according to Agerpres.

The head of Romanian diplomacy reiterated, in a press statement before the FAC meeting taking place in Brussels on Monday, our country’s support for the Republic of Moldova, which is „very affected by the vulnerabilities regarding the security of the energy system”.

„Romania has intensified its efforts and we support 90 percent of the necessary electricity consumption in the Republic of Moldova. We will continue to support the Republic of Moldova. But support is needed in the form of grants,” said Bogdan Aurescu.

He welcomed the recent announcement by the president of the European Commission regarding the financial support of 250 million euros for the energy security of the Republic of Moldova.

„For the Foreign Affairs Council in December, I will request that a separate item concerning the situation in the Republic of Moldova be included on the agenda, obviously in the presence of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Moldova, Nicu Popescu,” declared Aurescu.

The Romanian minister also mentioned that a new meeting of the support platform for the Republic of Moldova, created by Romania, Germany and France, will take place on November 21, in Paris.

At Monday’s FAC meeting, the head of Romanian diplomacy will welcome the launch of a new EU support package for Ukraine. „Of course, Romania will have a national contribution in this mission”, he added.

Bogdan Aurescu also spoke about continuing the pressure on Russia. „From this perspective, I will convey our support for more restrictive measures regarding Russia and Belarus”, the minister emphasized.

He will also inform the FAC about Romania’s support for „the creation of a mechanism that will investigate and prosecute the crime of aggression in Ukraine”. „But we must obviously find a solid legal basis for this,” he pointed out.

In context, Aurescu recalled that, since the beginning of the war, 6.5 million tonnes of grain from Ukraine transited Romania, and recently a new border checkpoint was opened between the two countries.

Minister Aurescu also reiterated Romania’s support for the European path of the states in the region.

He emphasized that „it is very important for tensions in northern Kosovo to stop”. „We will continue to encourage the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue and we hope that the situation will be kept under control”, added Bogdan Aurescu.

Asked if the EU will have to impose additional sanctions on Iran, in the context of this country’s support for Russia, the head of Romanian diplomacy answered: „Absolutely. We very much support additional sanctions for Iran. We supported the first set of sanctions, in the field of human rights, because of the way the Iranian authorities dealt with the demonstrators – with a lot of violence and unjustified oppression against freedom of assembly, against freedom of expression. On the other hand, we backed a set of sanctions related to supporting Russian aggression in Ukraine. And we continue to support more sanctions, related to the field of human rights”.

As regards the information about arms deliveries from Iran to Russia, Bogdan Aurescu said: „There are indications in this regard and we obviously need to see concrete evidence. But, I repeat, the fact that Iran has already admitted that it supplies drones to Russia means that there is a confirmation of support and complicity with the aggressor, and this must be taken very seriously, of course”.

Agerpres