President Iohannis attends informal reunion of European Council in Versailles

President Klaus Iohannis attends on Thursday, starting at 18:00, the informal meeting of the European Council that takes place in Versailles, France.On Tuesday, President Klaus Iohannis attended a coordination meeting in videoconference format with the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, and the prime ministers of the governments of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, the Hellenic Republic, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Republic of Croatia, Andrej Plenkovic, and the Republic of Estonia, Kaja Kallas, in preparation for the informal meeting of the European Council on Thursday and Friday.The Presidential Administration informed, after the meeting, that the discussions focused on the current security developments in Ukraine, the efforts to manage and support refugee flows, the humanitarian assistance measures for Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, the sanctions applied to Russia and Belarus and proposals to strengthen them. It was also discussed the consolidation of the EU defense dimension, energy security, with emphasis on reducing dependencies, diversifying the supply and finding solutions at European level to the increase of energy prices. Recent proposals to increase the resilience of European economies and to promote a European economic growth model aimed at coping with multiple challenges have also been addressed.In his speech, president Iohannis supported the role and impact that unity and coordination, not only within the European Union, but also together with the United States of America, NATO and other strategic partners, have in their reaction and rapid response to Russia's aggression on Ukraine and stressed the importance of firmly maintaining them.The president presented the measures taken by Romania in support of Ukraine, including the decision of our country to find a logistics center for the coordination and collection of international humanitarian assistance for Ukraine and, respectively, the Republic of Moldova, under operation, the first humanitarian convoy to Ukraine to be carried out in the next days.President Iohannis also stressed Romania's support for the accession applications of Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Georgia to the EU family and the importance of a message of support at European level for all three states.Klaus Iohannis also referred to the situation of energy prices, which remains a priority subject, from the perspective of the impact on the population, but also on the economies as a whole, as there is a need to further identify solutions at European level that protect the consumer, as well as the economic competitiveness at EU level.President Iohannis also supported the need to strengthen the defense sector at European level, welcoming the initiatives that are meant to increase investments in defense capabilities and innovative technologies. The state's first official also announced his decision to increase spending in the defence sector to 2.5 pct of GDP in 2023, from 2 pct in the present.