Senate President Nicolae Ciuca meets Czech PM in Prague

Romanian Senate Chairman Nicolae Ciuca on Thursday had a meeting in Prague with Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, saying that the two countries will take the "test of the election to the European Parliament" on June 9, when "democratic forces must strongly affirm their commitment to Western values.""I met in Prague the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, Petr Fiala, whom I visited at the Government headquarters. We discussed strengthening co-operation between our two countries and ways in which we can cope with geopolitical and economic complications affecting the entire continent. In such periods, solidarity among partner states within the European Union is very important, because only together we have the strength to overcome the most difficult challenges," Ciuca wrote in a social media post.He thanked the Czech prime minister for Czech support for Romania's full accession to the Schengen area and joining the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OSCE). Senate President Nicolae Ciuca said in Prague on Thursday that the discussions he had with Czech officials also focused on concerns about the rise of populism and extremism in Europe, in the context of the European Parliament elections on June 9."In about two months' time we will have the European Parliament elections, and in the discussions we had we touched on all these issues related to concerns about the rise of populism and extremism in Europe, about the need for political parties, political party leaders to engage in a sincere and honest dialogue with the electorate, considering that this is one of the ways in which we can continue to uphold the values and virtues that our parties promote, and last but not least, to take on this component of promoting gender equality, which is a concern not only for Romanian politicians, but also for Czech political leaders," said Ciuca, at a joint press conference with Czech Republic Senate President Milos Vystrcil.He also referred to the cultural relations between Romania and the Czech Republic."This afternoon we will also symbolically mark the cultural relations between our countries and this way contribute to strengthening the profile of Romania and the Czech Republic within the European Union, because through our attitude, through our activity we will contribute to the peace projects, to the prosperity projects undertaken at the level of the European Union. We are countries that support and promote European values, that's why I want to thank all the Czech officials for the way they supported Romania's accession to the Shengen area when they held the EU presidency and I want to thank them for their interest to complete the accession process and the land borders as soon as possible," said Ciuca.The Romanian official also highlighted the potential for economic cooperation between the two countries."I have great confidence in our potential for cooperation in the economic area, (...) in nuclear energy, machine building, renewable energy, tourism and last but not least in the defence industry. I mentioned it last, because I want to underline the very good meeting I had today with the minister (Czech minister of Defence - editor's note). Expressing my confidence in everything that parliamentary diplomacy means, I would like to finally express my full confidence in the Romanian-Chinese partnership, for a strengthened relationship between our countries and for a better, more prosperous Europe for its citizens," concluded Ciuca.   Ciuca and a delegation of the Romanian Parliament paid an official visit to Prague on Wednesday and Thursday, at the invitation of his Czech counterpart Milos Vystrcil.