Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania : Minister of Foreign Affairs Lazăr Comănescu attends meeting of Foreign Affairs Council

Minister of Foreign Affairs Lazăr Comănescu attended the meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) in Brussels on Monday 18 January 2016. The meeting agenda included talks on the situation in Syria, Iraq, and Ukraine. Other meetings were also held on the side of the FAC: an informal meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and of Expatriates of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan Nasser Judeh and a meeting of 'the Group of Friends of Ukraine.'

During the talks on Syria and on the recent developments in the region, Minister Lazăr Comănescu reiterated Romania's support of the political solution agreed upon at the Geneva and Vienna format meetings and he underlined that regional and international partners should join their efforts and find a solution, so that there would be no power vacuum in Syria's transition period. Furthermore, he expressed concern at the humanitarian situation in Syria and, in this context, he mentioned that there was need for stable cooperation on identifying viable solutions to Middle East crises. Moreover, following the recent developments in the relation between Iran and Saudi Arabia, the head of Romanian diplomacy argued that it was necessary to reinitiate dialogue and collaboration between the two states, both in order to support the two states' own interests, and to serve the interests of the region, one of the region's interests being a smooth evolution of the Syrian peace process.

As far as Iraq was concerned, Minister Lazăr Comănescu hailed the efforts of the Al-Abadi government to continue nation-wide reforms and enhanced dialogue aimed at ensuring long-term peace and stability. In addition, the head of Romanian diplomacy underlined the need for national reconciliation in Iraq and he expressed support of furthering the reconstruction process in Iraq.

The debates on Ukraine took place both in the FAC, and at the 'Group of Friends of Ukraine' meeting, the latter of which was hosted by Denmark and was attended by Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Pavlo Klimkin. On this occasion, there was emphasis on the need for further efforts from the part of Ukrainian authorities in the implementation of the new legal provisions, related especially to constitutional reform and to the reform of the judiciary. Moreover, it was pointed out that there was need for more, sectoral EU assistance, including for economy. It was also specified that there was need for substantial support in the implementation of anti-corruption laws and of laws on rendering anti-corruption institutions operational. EU Member States expressed availability for enhanced political and financial support of Ukraine's temporal implementation process of the Association Agreement, including support of the implementation, as of 1 January 2016, of the provisions of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement.

After the 'Group of Friends of Ukraine' meeting, Minister Lazăr Comănescu talked briefly with his Ukrainian counterpart on the prospects of enhancing bilateral political dialogue, among others.

On the side of the FAC, the Minister of Foreign Affairs participated in informal discussions with his EU Member State counterparts on the need to further support the Republic of Moldova's European path.

The European Ministers of Foreign Affairs also exchanged views with Jordanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Judeh. The talks highlighted the effective cooperation between the EU and Jordan, and led to an outline of EU enhanced support of Jordan. Moreover, they approached regional topics, both from the point of view of the most recent developments, and from the point of view of Jordan's role in managing the refugee issue.