Italy is working to see to it that its duty presidency will mark a turning point in the European Union, Minister for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini said in bilateral meetings today in Romania, which offered an opportunity to reconfirm Rome’s excellent relations with Bucharest.
From now until the end of the year, community institutions are going to be renewed, “but we want to make sure that the coming months are not ones of transition but the start of a new phase for the EU”, Mogherini underscored. “Our sights are on growth, on measures for employment, and at the same time on strengthening the role of the EU with neighbouring countries and, more in general, on a common foreign policy”.
The minister discussed these topics with Premier Victor Ponta, Minister for Foreign Affairs Titus Corlatean and Presidents of the Senate Calin Popesco Taricenau and the Lower House Calin Popesco Taricenau. “Italy and Romania have excellent political relations, in addition to deep economic ties, strengthened in recent years by the presence of Italian investors in Romania as well as by the large Romanian community in Italy”, Mogherini pointed out. All her Romanian interlocutors assured their full support for the Italian presidency’s priorities and for a shared and collaborative approach to migration policies, not least within the EU.
The two governments also have a shared approach in the EU to foreign policy in various crisis areas, from Ukraine to Syria to Libya. Minister Mogherini also announced that the Balkans would be among the priorities of the Italian EU duty presidency.
