Aurescu in Ankara: Romania has always been preoccupied to identify solutions to increase security at the Black Sea

Romania has always been preoccupied to identify solutions to increase security at the Black Sea, stated on Tuesday the minister of foreign affairs, Bogdan Aurescu in a press conference, held together with his Turkish couterpart, Mervlut Cavusoglu in Ankara.   ' An important place in our discussions had the security in the region of the Black Sea. We have discussed about ways of cooperation, both at bilateral level and in the NATO organisation. (...) Romania has always been preoccupied to identify solutions for security at the Black Sea' said minister Aurescu  in the press conference held together with Cavusoglu.   The head of Romanian diplomacy spoke about the creation of a working group where Turkey and Romania discuss ' the most important aspects connected to the Black Sea,  economic development,  freedom of navigation'.' It is obvious that we have to increase the NATO capacity of strategic knowledge and situational awareness of the evolutions of security in the Black Sea' said Aurescu.   He also mentioned in this context the creation of the Council for Strategic Cooperation at High Level Romania - Turkey, namely the mechanism of joint government meetings.' This mechanism allows us a structured approach, an approach which could allow the stimulation in a more coordinated way and more organised of the development of our relations on various levels' Aurescu said.   As for Sweden and Finland's accesion to NATO, the Romanian minister of foreign affairs appreciated that this ' will represent a plus for the security of the Euro-Atlantic space in its whole, especially in the present geo-political context'.   'The fact that two states which were uncommitted until the breaking out of this war, Russia's against Ukraine have decided to abandon their policy of neutrality and join the North-Atlantic Alliance, this is an effect that we thank president Putin for, from this perspective' the Romanian minister said.   Minister Aurescu had bilateral consultations with the Turkish minister of foreign affairs during the official visit to the Republic of Turkey at the invitation of his counterpart.   The two ministers appreciated the importance of the Strategic Partnership for the consolidation of tight connections between the two states and referred to the dynamic bilateral dialogue and the very good level of their collaboration at various dimensions.   They finalised and agreed on the text of the Political Statement through which the Council for Strategic Cooperation at High Level Romania -Turkey is created, organised under the format of a joint reunion of commun interest to be lauched in 2023.   During this meeting, there was a focus on the cooperation in the domain of energy, as both interlocutors agreed that it was a priority domain,especially from the  perspective of present challenges. Thus, it was agreed that joint efforts should be intensified to insure the security of Romania's supply through transit the Turkish territory.