Bogdan Aurescu, at virtual reunion of Ministers of Foreign Affairs on topics regarding management of COVID-19 pandemic

  The head of the Romanian diplomacy, Bogdan Aurescu, took part on Wednesday in the virtual reunion of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, with topics regarding the management of the COVID-19 pandemic, hosted by the American secretary of state, Antony Blinken.The reunion's target was advancing efforts for ending the COVID-19 pandemic and restoring the sanitary security at a global level, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) specified, in a press release .Bogdan Aurescu expressed his trust that the change of opinions within the reunion will contribute to the development of more efficient global actions and better coordinated in managing multiple challenges generated by the COVID-19 pandemic.He referred to Romania's experience in managing the pandemic crisis, context in which the need for solidarity and constant international cooperation was highlighted, as pre-conditions for creating and using some more efficient mechanisms for crisis response, just like the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, which our country also benefits.Furthermore, according to MAE, Bogdan Aurescu highlighted Romania's contribution to regional and international efforts for countering the effects of the pandemic, as well as our country being the first EU member state which hosted the strategic reserve of medical equipment of the Union - RescEU and facilitated their transport towards other member and neighboring states, Romania accessing, for the first time, the "Strategic Airlift Capability" of NATO, with the purpose of transporting medical equipment in South Korea, as well as Romanian medical missions to countries such as Italy, the USA, the Republic of Moldova or Slovakia.Thus, the Romanian minister highlighted, as a lesson learned in the pandemic context, the importance of multilateral cooperation and management of these crisis, preferable to the self-isolation tendencies or unilateral action which manifested, especially at the start of the crisis.He also mentioned our country's policy regarding the support given to states in the region and not only, evoking consistent donations of medical equipment from Romania towards the Republic of Moldova, as well as donations of over half a million vaccines towards this country.Furthermore, the head of the Romanian diplomacy talked about the need to consolidate strategic resilience at a national and international level, on all its dimensions - political, economic, digital and sanitary. He pointed out the importance of consolidating international order based on rules and efforts of consolidating democratic resilience, especially in the context of intensifying disinformation campaigns, by strengthening the multilateral system and partnerships among the states that share common visions and interests. In this context, Aurescu highlighted the importance of a solid transatlantic partnership, objective that Romania fully supports.