Foreign Minister Emil Hurezeanu welcomed his Polish counterpart Radoslaw Sikorski

 Eastern flank voices need to be heard and their opinion must be taken into account when talking about Ukraine, Foreign Minister Emil Hurezeanu said on Thursday in a press statement delivered together with his Polish counterpart Radoslaw Sikorski, who is on a visit to Bucharest.In these troubled times, our collaboration with Romania is becoming increasingly important, Sikorski said, adding that a plan was agreed for intergovernmental consultations in the second half of this year."We emphasized the fact that the voices of the Eastern flank states need to be heard, and our perspectives must be taken into account when discussing Ukraine," said Emil Hurezeanu.The Romanian top diplomat affirmed "the staunch support" for advancing the European path of Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova."We agreed that EU decisions aimed at strengthening European defense and security action are essential for our countries, which sit in the immediate vicinity of the Russian aggression in Ukraine. As such, based on the EC's recent proposals for reinforcing the European defense dimension and particularly for strengthening the European industrial base of innovation and cooperation, we are interested in working towards additional investments in this direction. As states sitting on the external border of the Union, Romania and Poland will be able to directly benefit from the defense solutions that will be agreed both in the short and in the long term," said the Romanian foreign minister.In this thread, he stressed the need for complementarity with NATO, based on a robust transatlantic partnership."An as fast as possible and unconditional ceasefire agreement is key, and the responsibility for stopping the hostilities belongs to Russia. Together we must provide the necessary support to Ukraine, while maintaining increased pressure on Russia. We have expressed our firm support for a just and lasting peace, backed by solid and credible security guarantees. This goal can be achieved by involving all allies and other partners, as it envisages not only Ukraine's security, but that of the entire Eastern flank, from the Baltic to the Black Sea. Therefore, our coordination in this process remains essential," the Romanian minister pointed out.In his turn, Minister Sikorski said that Poland wishes to continue cooperating with Romania "in all formats".Poland and Romania are close allies and partners. We have a similar way of looking at the main challenges, as well as a similar assessment of the situation on the eastern borders of the European Union and NATO. We consider setting a date for intergovernmental consultations in the second half of this year, in Poland, after the end of the Polish presidency [of the EU Council], the Polish chief diplomat said, according to the official translation.He welcomed Romania's full entry to the Schengen, describing it as a "success" of the entire European Union, and also referenced Poland's support during this process.  (Photo:https://www.mae.ro/)