On the occasion of the third Intergovernmental Summit between Italy and Romania, scheduled to take place today in Rome, Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Antonio Tajani, met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania, Luminița Odobescu, at the Italian Foreign Ministry.
“We wish to improve the quality of relations between Italy and Romania, strengthening and expanding the strategic partnership between the two countries. These relations are already characterised by very deep historical, cultural and linguistic ties”, commented the Deputy Prime Minister.
According to Tajani, “Rome and Bucharest agree on the main issues on the European and international agenda”. In this regard, he added that “Minister Odobescu, in expressing his strong appreciation for the Italian initiative to launch an EU mission in the Red Sea, wanted to express Romania’s interest in participating in the Aspides operation”.
“Romania is an important economic and commercial partner of Italy, thanks to the strong synergy between the two countries’ production chains, as demonstrated by an annual trade exchange worth almost EUR 19 billion in 2022”, said Tajani, expressing satisfaction for the important works carried out in Romania by Italian companies, as well as the hope that “further collaborations will be developed in high-tech sectors, starting from the defence, security and energy sectors”.
In the afternoon, following the plenary session of the Intergovernmental Summit to be attended by the two heads of government and their respective delegations, Tajani will open the Italy-Romania Business Forum at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, together with his counterpart Odobescu and the Romanian Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Sorin-Mihai Grindeanu.
At the end of the morning meeting, two technical understandings were signed: a Memorandum on cooperation and structured consultations between the two Foreign Ministries and a Memorandum on the training of civil servants between the respective National Schools of Administration. The former aims to enhance and develop bilateral political dialogue on foreign policy, as well as to intensify cooperation and coordination on major European and international issues. The Memorandum between the Italian National School of Administration (Scuola Nazionale dell’Amministrazione, SNA) and the National Institute of Administration of Romania (INA) aims to develop joint training programmes, exchange of expertise and best practices on areas of common interest for respective civil servants, as well as joint research activities.