The Romanian-French Strategic Partnership

French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian was on an official visit to Romania

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Florentin Căpitănescu, 13.04.2018, 13:50

Romanias Schengen accession has been the focal point on the agenda of the talks in Bucharest between Romanian President Klaus Iohannis and the French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian. President Iohannis has said the countrys Schengen accession, which has been postponed since as early as 2011, amid reservations expressed by some of the EU member states towards the justice system reform, remains an important objective for Romania. Iohannis expressed his hope that France will support a favourable decision in this respect.

In turn, the French official said there is no barrier from his country to Romanias prospective accession to the free movement area. In another move, president Iohannis underlined the excellent state of bilateral relationships, in a year rich in significance: the 10-year anniversary of the Bilateral Strategic Partnership Declaration, the launch of the Romania-France Cultural Season, and Romanias celebration of the Great Union Centennial Anniversary, a landmark to which France had a major contribution.

The Presidency of the EU Council, which Romania will hold in the first half of 2019, and topics on the European agenda have also been among the focal points of the talks. Earlier, the French official held talks with his Romanian counterpart, Teodor Meleşcanu, on the situation in Syria following the chemical attack in the town of Douma last week, blamed by Western capitals on Damascus. Romania firmly condemns the use of chemical weapons in any circumstances, particularly when used against civilians, the Romanian foreign minister has said. He has also underlined that Romania supports the idea of creating an independent body to investigate the incident.

In his turn, Le Drian has said the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian war has crossed the red line. The French official has added that the attack was very well documented in terms of the number of victims and the volume of damage and that France is determined to take action. As regards the Bilateral Strategic Partnership, Teodor Meleşcanu has said:

Teodor Meleşcanu: “The Strategic Partnership between Romania and France, as well as its Roadmap, have had a major contribution to deepening the bilateral relationship in key domains. We have also discussed about our common efforts to update the Roadmap, which might be signed as early as the end of 2018.

Referring to the stage of bilateral relations, the French foreign minister has said that in the forthcoming period, special emphasis will be laid on dialogue on EU and defence-related issues and on economic development. The latter is approached in the context in which bilateral trade exceeded 8 billion Euros last year.

(translated by: Diana Vijeu)