Chancellor Merz to visiting President Dan:Your campaign proved you stand for democratic European Romania

Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany Friedrich Merz told Romanian visiting President Nicusor Dan on Friday that in the recent presidential election campaign he demonstrated that he represents a democratic, European Romania."We and I personally enjoy your visit to Berlin. In the presidential election campaign you proved that you stand for a democratic, European Romania. You thus gave a strong political signal that went far beyond Romania's borders and you know that everyone in Europe, and we in Germany, have observed the elections in Romania with utmost attention. All the more, allow me to congratulate you on your election as President of Romania," the German Chancellor declared in a joint press conference with President Nicusor Dan, that followed their meeting at the Federal Chancellery in Berlin.The German Chancellor stressed that the two countries have an excellent relation, which will become even better in the future, highlighting the fact that the foreign ministers signed an action plan that "will unite the two countries even more strongly" in terms of security and economic policies, and on an inter-personal level."First point: through the action plan we have established that we will expand and strengthen our weapons procurement cooperation; secondly: we will also coordinate in terms of strengthening exchanges for investments promotion. Third point: we will continue to invest in our cooperation on education, culture and media," Germany's top political leader said.He mentioned that the German minority in Romania and the Romanian community in Germany have the important role of "building bridges" between the two countries."Our economic relations are a success story. Last year, bilateral trade hit a record-high of over 42 billion euros. We agree that there's room for even more and we want to capitalize on this potential. Germany is an important investor in Romania, especially in the sectors of energy and industry, we see many opportunities, we thus strengthen the security of supply in Europe, as well as European competitiveness," added the German Chancellor.With regard to the new Multiannual Financial Framework proposed by the European Commission, Friedrich Merz said that "Europe is facing historic challenges" that will be overcome "only through clear prioritization, and not just through ever-increasing amounts of money"."We will therefore not be able to accept the Commission's proposal on the size of the budget, which we consider to be much larger, but we support the Commission's reformist approach and the orientation of the budget towards new priorities, because this is the right course to take in order to strengthen Europe in the future. A long process of negotiations will now begin, in which the federal government and I personally will be involved in a constructive and proactive manner," the German Chancellor added.Friedrich Merz also emphasized that Romania and Germany are important partners in terms of security policies under NATO's umbrella, and share the same view regarding the Russian Federation's war of aggression in Ukraine."Romania and Germany are also close partners as far as Transatlantic Alliance security policies are concerned. Mr. President, your country plays an important role thanks to its important position on the eastern flank. For this reason, we intend to join forces even more strongly in the field of the arms industry. We share the same point of view as to how we assess the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, which violates international law. We are trying to increase pressure on Russia and support Ukraine in order to bring Moscow to the negotiating table one day," he added.Merz also mentioned that Germany and Romania are partners as far as relations with the Republic of Moldova are concerned."We are partners of the Moldova Support Platform, which we initiated together, and in these decisive months we are putting in joint efforts to prevent Moldova's destabilization by Russia. We are now working closely for Moldova's rapprochement to the European Union," added the German Chancellor.Friedrich Merz indicated that the talks with the Romanian head of state also targeted trade policy in the negotiations with Washington, noting that a balanced agreement is urgently needed.President Nicusor Dan, who payed an official visit to the Federal Republic of Germany on Friday, had a meeting with Chancellor Merz, and was previously welcomed by his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier at the Bellevue Palace. (Photo:presidency.ro)