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Address by Prime Minister Nicolae-Ionel Ciucă and his Polish counterpart, Mateusz Morawiecki, in the plenum of the two government delegations

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Nicolae-Ionel Ciucă: Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, members of the Governments of Poland and Romania, dear guests, I am particularly glad and honored to host the fourth edition of consultations between the Governments of Romania and Poland. Today’s meeting and especially the diverse and complex joint agenda is evidence of the remarkable development that the multisectoral bilateral cooperation between Romania and Poland recorded over the years, based on the strategic partnership between our countries, signed in 2009.

I also want to mention that last year you hosted a similar activity in Warsaw and thank you once again for organizing it. Poland has been and remains a long-term close friend of our country, a key and reliable strategic partner of Romania. This favorable framework also facilitated the strong connections existing between our societies. At the same time, today's meeting demonstrates our determination to pursue the expansion of bilateral cooperation within the agreed framework of the 2022-2026 action plan, as well as the firm intention to deepen Romanian-Polish coordination at the European and Euro-Atlantic regional levels. Expressing satisfaction with the high level of political dialogue and overall bilateral cooperation, I agreed with the Prime Minister to adopt a joint political declaration based on the values and principles shared by the two states. I would like to emphasize that, for over a year, the security architecture, both at the European level and at the international level, has been put to the test and we discussed this aspect last year in Warsaw; we have witnessed together the developments from February 2022 until now and we have made joint efforts to manage this security situation as best as possible, to take an active part in the decisions and the implementation of the decisions that have been taken to strengthen security and defense in our region, within the North Atlantic Alliance and the European Union. Also, in the bilateral meeting I had with Mr. Prime Minister, I condemned in the strongest terms Russia's brutal military aggression against Ukraine, which constitutes a serious violation of international law and the international commitments assumed by the Russian Federation, as well as the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, respectively the inviolability of state borders. Together with Mr. Prime Minister, we discussed and reiterated the firm and consistent support that our countries have granted and will continue to grant to Ukraine, and of course, once again, we strongly condemned the illegal use of force to obtain any kind of result. Romania and Poland, along with the entire international democratic community, stand by Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. I also want to assure you that, together with our allies and partners, we will continue to provide a firm, coordinated, and substantial response to Moscow's aggressive actions against neighboring states and the West, and the war crimes committed by Russian soldiers in Ukraine. We also discussed the important implications for the Republic of Moldova of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. In the same bilateral meeting, we presented the measures our country has taken to support the Government in Chisinau, and we also discussed the need for the continuous support that the Republic of Moldova still needs to maintain stability and ensure the stability of a pro – European government. Romania and Poland share the vision of the importance of the stability and security of the Republic of Moldova for the entire region. We also agreed to continue the dialogue with the Government in Chisinau. Together with a government delegation, I paid a visit to the Republic of Moldova last week.

I also discussed this with the prime minister and, in the immediate future, he will also pay a visit to Chisinau. Practically, it means nothing more than the coordination of efforts so that we can support the Republic of Moldova bilaterally and, of course, within the European Union. I want to emphasize the aspects of the common objectives regarding the European initiatives related to competitiveness. I also emphasized this aspect at the economic forum we attended together this morning. For Romania, as for Poland, convergence within the Union and the creation of equal development opportunities for the member states are particularly important objectives, which will equally contribute to increasing the overall competitiveness of the European Union. I also thanked my counterpart for the support that Poland and the Polish Government have given us in our bid to join the Schengen Area. We continue to rely on messages and actions from your government so that this process of the Schengen Area enlargement remains on the European Union's priority agenda this year and, of course, for us, it is a government goal that we want to attain this year. As such, Mr. Prime Minister, ladies, and gentlemen, ministers, and members of the two governments, allow me to thank you once again for having today the opportunity to once again, together, discuss the issues that are on the agenda of priorities in the bilateral relations between Romania and Poland and to identify together the opportunities that we need to capitalize on so that we fulfill what our citizens what is expected from us: stability, economic growth, and welfare. Thank you.

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