ForMin Aurescu pays official visit to Italy on Wednesday

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bogdan Aurescu, will pay an official visit to the Italian Republic on Wednesday to answer an invitation from his counterpart, Luigi Di Maio. According to a press release of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) sent to AGERPRES, the head of Romanian diplomacy will have a round of consultations with Di Maio and a meeting with the president of the Italian Senate, Maria Elisabetta Alberti Casellati. The Romanian official will address with his counterpart "the concrete ways of strengthening cooperation between Romania and Italy, in political, economic and sectoral plan and will emphasize the importance of the Romanian community in Italy in the bilateral relationship as a whole," the same source states. Ministers Aurescu and Di Maio will also address issues on the European agenda, EU cooperation in combating the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and increasing the Union's resilience, future debates at the Conference on the Future of Europe, implementation of economic recovery measures, the enlargement policy of the Union, as well as the revitalization of the Eastern Partnership. At the end of the bilateral consultations, the two high officials will make joint press statements. The programme of the visit of Minister Bogdan Aurescu also includes a discussion in videoconference format with the heads of the Romanian consular offices in Italy, during which the MAE priorities regarding the reform of consular services will be addressed, as well as current issues related to the Romanian community. Also, the Minister of Foreign Affairs will participate in a decoration ceremony of some people who performed charitable actions in support of the Romanian community during the pandemic crisis. AGERPRES (RO - author: Oana Ghita, editor: Florin Marin, EN - author: Cristina Zaharia)