The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bogdan Aurescu, had a meeting with his Bulgarian counterpart, Nikolay Milkov, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, in New York, and the discussions focused on issues on the European agenda, with an emphasis on the efforts of Romania and Bulgaria regarding the accession to the Schengen area, respectively the coordination with the Bulgarian side to achieve this priority objective as soon as possible, informs the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, according to Agerpres.

Bogdan Aurescu reiterated Romania’s interest in preparing the 6th meeting of the High Level Cooperation Council between the governments of the two countries, after the legislative elections in Bulgaria, scheduled for October 2, 2022, and the formation of a new Government.

The two officials also addressed a series of files of bilateral interest, such as ensuring navigability on the Danube, building new bridges, respectively cooperation to ensure energy security. In this context, Minister Bogdan Aurescu welcomed the completion of the Bulgaria-Greece Gas Interconnector and congratulated the Bulgarian side for the announcement regarding its inauguration on October 1, 2022, says the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The discussions between the two ministers also provided an opportunity for an exchange of views on the security situation in the region, in the context of Russia’s new actions to escalate the conflict in Ukraine.

The two ministers reiterated their strong support for Ukraine and condemned in the strongest terms Russia’s decision for partial mobilisation and organization of illegal referendums in the occupied regions of Ukraine, respectively the threat of using force through the use of nuclear weapons, these actions representing a violation of international law. They emphasized, at the same time, the importance of the unity of the European Union and a firm and unitary response from it, adds the cited source.

Agerpres