Foreign Affairs Minister Bogdan Aurescu had a telephone conversation with his Czech counterpart Jan Lipavsky, on Friday, in the context of the Czech Republic holding the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, a Foreign Affairs Ministry (MAE) release sent to Agerpres informs.

Within the conversation, the Romanian Minister reiterated „Romania’s full support for the objectives and the smooth running of the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU, including in the complex context of the Russian Federation’s armed aggression against Ukraine,” the quoted source stated.

In this context, Minister Lipavsky informed about the conclusions of his recent visit to Kyiv, and the two heads of diplomacies had an exchange of views on the developments in the area. At the same time, Minister Bogdan Aurescu highlighted the extensive multidimensional measures taken by Romania to support Ukraine, including by facilitating the entry into Romania of over 2.75 million Ukrainian citizens, as well as at the level of food security, by facilitating the transit through our country of over 6.5 million tons of Ukrainian grain.

Minister Aurescu assured that Romania will continue to provide support on this strategic level and take measures to improve transit logistics capacities. The Czech Minister thanked for all the efforts Romania made.

In this context, the two ministers also discussed the situation of the Republic of Moldova, with an emphasis on the need to maintain the EU’s support also at a bilateral level for the energy security of this country. Romania’s Foreign Affairs Minister mentioned the steps taken by Romania to ensure the energy needs of the neighboring state.

The head of the Romanian diplomacy also thanked for the efforts of the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU aimed at supporting Romania’s accession to the Schengen Area. Moreover, the two ministers discussed the status and continuation of the steps on this file. The Czech Foreign Minister assured his Romanian counterpart that Romania will continue to benefit from all the support of the Czech Republic throughout the Schengen accession process.

Within the discussion, the two ministers also exchanged views regarding the situation in the Western Balkans, with an emphasis on the situation in Kosovo. In this context, the role of the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue, facilitated by the European Union, was brought to mind, encouraging the continuation of the commitment of the two sides and the need to maintain a general positive climate, without challenges from any side.

Agerpres