Foreign Minister Aurescu, Ukraine's approved ambassador Prokopchuk discuss security, economic and humanitarian situation

Foreign Affairs Minister Bogdan Aurescu received on Tuesday Ukraine's approved ambassador Ihor Prokopchuk for the presentation of his credentials, the Foreign Affairs Ministry informs.The Romanian top diplomat reiterated on this occasion "Romania's firm support for Ukraine's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity and evoked the complex, multidimensional support measures that our country has undertaken on bilateral, regional and global level since the beginning of the Russian Federation's illegal, premeditated, unjustified and unprovoked aggression against Ukraine," the cited source shows.During the talks, Bogdan Aurescu and agreed ambassador Ihor Prokopchuk had an in-depth exchange of views on the security, economic and humanitarian situation in Ukraine and welcomed the very dynamic bilateral political dialogue between Romania and Ukraine, with the Ukrainian diplomat thanking in particular for Romania's consistent and prompt support to the neighboring state and its citizens ever since the beginning of the conflict.ForMin Aurescu highlighted the cooperation between the government of Romania and the Romanian civil society in support of the Ukrainian refugees, emphasizing both the support received by the over 1.45 million Ukrainian citizens who entered our country and steps to provide free access to the health care system, education and labor market for Ukrainian refugees. He also underscored the importance of the humanitarian hub set up in Suceava, which has become an important point on the map of European refugee support measures, and through which countless humanitarian convoys from EU member states have been sent to Ukraine.The Romanian Foreign Minister also pointed out the concrete solidarity and empathy shown to the refugees by the Romanian citizens and the NGOs involved, as well as the transformative effect the interpersonal contacts generated by the crisis have had on perceptions, with long-term effects on tightening the ties of the two societies.Minister Bogdan Aurescu also highlighted Romania's concrete efforts to support Ukraine with grain transportation, including by the use of Romanian rail and port logistics capabilities, and particularly through the Port of Constanta, emphasizing our country's efforts to expand the capacity of Romanian Danube and Black Sea ports. In this context, he pointed out the steps taken by the Romanian authorities to facilitate the transit of people and goods, through complex measures to streamline this process, including proposals to reopen certain border crossing points.The Romanian Foreign Minister also highlighted the role of the historical communities in Ukraine and in Romania, respectively, as bridges between the two states and expressed his confidence that the outstanding issues will be settled as soon as possible, referencing the commitment made by the Ukrainian side at the highest level, on the occasion of recent bilateral contacts, to treat the members of the Romanian community in Ukraine at the same standard as that granted by Romania to the members of the Ukrainian community in our country.Aurescu also congratulated Ukraine on obtaining EU candidate status and recalled Romania's full and firm support for the achievement of this goal and for further advancing Ukraine's European agenda. In this thread, he emphasized the need to continue reforms at a steady pace, including for the implementation of the priority measures provided for in the Opinion of the European Commission of 17 June.He also expressed Romania's full willingness to provide assistance and expertise in this regard and share best practices in achieving EU standards, mentioning Romania's constant support to Ukraine in international forums, including for the consistent package of measures for Ukraine approved at the June 28-30 NATO Summit in Madrid, as well as for the measures adopted at the Summit on the security of the Black Sea region. In this sense, he underlined the importance the Black Sea region being assigned strategic priority in the new allied Strategic Concept has for NATO and the Euro-Atlantic security, a goal achieved as a result of Romania's intense political and diplomatic efforts.Ukraine's approved ambassador thanked the Romanian Foreign Minister for the openness with which he was received and thanked again the Romanian state and its people for their prompt and generous support to Ukraine and the Ukrainian people in the most difficult moments of their existence.  (Photo: mae.ro)