Poland and Romania share similar view on Europe's future - Polish Foreign Minister

Poland and Romania have a similar view on Europe’s future and threats to its security, Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz said after talks in Bucharest on Thursday.

Minister Czaputowicz, who paid a one-day working visit to Romania, added that both countries will continue to strengthen co-operation, among other things, in drafting the multi-annual EU budget.

During his visit to Bucharest, Minister Czaputowicz met with his Romanian counterpart Teodor Melescanu and was received by President Klaus Iohannius. The talks focused on bilateral relations and actions within various formats of regional co-operation.

The Polish Foreign Ministry in its press release quoted Czaputowicz as noting that Romania is the third country, after Bulgaria and Germany, that he has visited since he took over as Poland's foreign minister.

"This underlines the importance of the very good relations between our countries, as well as the role of partners from Central and Eastern Europe in Poland's foreign policy," noted Czaputowicz.

According to the Polish FM, today's meeting of the two foreign ministers "confirmed the will to intensify bilateral relations and seek opportunities for further expansion of economic, infrastructural and transport co-operation, with the help of opportunities outlined at the Three Seas summit in Warsaw in July 2017."

The talks also concerned regional co-operation of NATO's eastern flank countries, the so-called Bucharest Nine, in such areas as security policy, the future of the EU, eastern policy, energy and migration issues, and the form of the EU's multi-annual budget after 2020.

The two sides discussed forms of co-operation between Poland and Romania on the forum of other international organisations, including in the context of Poland's non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council for 2018-2019.

Czaputowicz and Melescanu also agreed on the need for Western Balkans countries to be integrated with the EU. In their opinion, this is the only way to "ensure security, prosperity and co-operation in this part of Europe."

"We share a similar view on Europe's future and threats to its security. We value co-operation in regional formats, including the Bucharest Nine and the Three Seas initiative," said the Polish minister after talks with his Romanian counterpart.