President Iohannis welcomed Italian ForMin Di Maio

President Klaus Iohannis welcomed, at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Italian Republic Luigi Di Maio, context in which the former expressed Romania's support for the adoption of new sanctions to maintain high pressure on the Russian Federation, the Presidential Administration informed in a press release."The Romanian-Italian political-diplomatic relations are at an excellent level, and the two countries act as privileged partners, based on the strong historical, cultural ties and also through the deep connections created by the Romanian community in Italy and the Italian one in Romania," shows the cited source.Klaus Iohannis presented Romania's efforts to help Ukraine through the Suceava Humanitarian Center and welcomed Italy's involvement in making this logistics hub operational. In context, the president stated that this humanitarian hub will also be used to support the Republic of Moldova, which is facing an increasing number of refugees. He appreciated that the Italian Foreign Minister will travel to Chisinau to discuss with the Moldovan authorities the best ways to cooperate in managing the large number of Ukrainian refugees.President Iohannis also addressed the issue of energy security, including in the context of discussions at European level, stating that the European Union must diversify its supply sources, opening up to countries such as Azerbaijan, Qatar or Egypt, and accelerate interconnections between Member States and the development of energy infrastructure. The president underscored the importance of stepping up investments in renewable sources and in the civil nuclear sector, but also the use of gas as a transitional source, in order to increase energy independence at Union level.In terms of bilateral economic relations, President Iohannis encouraged Italian companies to continue investing in Romania.Italian Foreign Affairs Minister Luigi Di Maio, on an official visit to Romania, highlighted the strong relations between the two countries and appreciated the way Romania is handling this difficult situation, thanking our country for the solidarity and support shown to all refugees fleeing from the military conflict in Ukraine.The Italian official stressed the importance of unity at European level regarding the sanctions aimed at severely sanctioning Russia, but also support for Ukraine, as well as the importance of continuing efforts to strengthen the European project in various fields, including energy, to ensure energy security of the EU.Luigi Di Maio expressed his country's readiness to support humanitarian efforts both in Ukraine and in the states neighboring Ukraine.